Waking the Dead
by Godeater
Summary: When zombies start being raised in Sunnydale, Giles turns to an old friend for help in dealing with them. Meanwhile, Buffy has conflicted feelings for her new partner...a male Slayer.
1. Prologue

The sky was clear this night. The gravestones shown with a muted glare as the occasional car passed by. The man paid no notice to them. His mind was completely focused on what he was doing, as he finished applying a strange smelling ointment to his face. In front of him stood the grave of a woman. The inscription on the gravestone gave him all the information that he needed to know. The woman's name was Angela Quinn, and she had been dead for 4 years.  
  
He quickly drew the blood circle in front of the grave. From a large bag beside him he removed a live chicken, its legs tied and its beak taped shut. He placed the chicken in the blood circle and removed a large knife from inside his coat. He held the chicken down with his left hand. It tried to get out from under his grip, scratching the earth with its feet and beck. Before the helpless bird could put up much of a fight, the knife came down hard on its neck.  
  
The head, completely severed, rolled a short distance before stopping. Blood spurted from the chickens' neck, soaking the center of the circle in dark blood. When the blood finally stopped, the man quickly cut the body of the chicken, exposing its spine. As he placed the now limp body in the center of the circle, he began to call out in a quiet voice. "Hear me Angela Quinn. I call you from the grave. By blood, magic and steel, I call you. Arise, Angela and come to me, come to me." The earth shuddered and then was still. The man again spoke, this time louder, his voice deeper. " Angela, Angela, come to me. By Samedi grace, awaken, Angela, arise and come to me." The earth again shuddered. The chicken slid to one side as the ground erupted, and a hand clutched for air. A second hand grabbed at nothing, and the earth began to pour down, pushing the dead woman out.  
  
The man backed away from the grave. The zombie had almost pulled itself from the grave. It sat panting, legs still trapped in the ground. Angela Quinn may have been pretty once, but 4 years in the grave were not kind to her. Her skin was an ugly grayish white, waxy, nearly expressionless, fake looking. Her hands were covered by long white gloves, now stained with dirt. Her dress was white and lace-covered. It looked a lot like a wedding dress. Her black hair clung to her head in a bun, wisps of it tracing her nearly skeletal face. All the bones showed, as if the skin were clay molded over a framework. Her eyes were wild, dark, showing too much white.  
  
The man watched as the zombie crawled toward the dead chicken. She grabbed the remains and began to suck on the wound at the top of the neck. She made small mewing sounds as she drained the blood that remained. It then stuffed the entire bird into its mouth, feathers and all. When she was done she looked up at the man with a dead eyes, blood dripping from her chin and staining her teeth.  
  
"Come to me, I am your master. You are mine, now and forever," the man said to the sitting zombie.  
  
It struggled to get up. When it managed, it stood in front of the man, staring at with no expression on its face. The man turned and began to walk toward the exit of the cemetery. The zombie made very little noise as it followed him.  
  
As he passed through the exit, he glanced at the sign in front of the gates. "Sunnydale Cemetery". He smiled. "Sunnydale Cemetery is about to get less crowded," he said as he headed toward his car. What used to be Angela Quinn was not far behind him. 


	2. Chapter 1

Buffy Summers was exhausted. She had stayed out till 4am the night before and had slayed 5 vampires. Now that school was finished for the day, all she wanted to do was go home and crawl into bed. Instead she was dragging herself in the direction of the Sunnydale High library. Rupert Giles, her Watcher, would be interested in how the night had gone.  
  
"Hey Buffy!" Xander Harris shouted. His hands were so full of books that he could barely see over them. Buffy was so shocked by the sight of Xander carrying any books, that she almost dropped her bag.  
  
"Doing a little light reading Xander?" the Slayer asked, trying not to laugh outloud.  
  
"Oh my God! You're so funny! How does one girl get to be so funny?" Xander said over the books, his eyes showing that he was not amused.  
  
"Practice! You need some help?"  
  
"What makes you think I need help? Is it the fact that I'm carrying the Library of Congress in my arms?"  
  
"What are you doing with all these books anyways?" Buffy asked as she began to take some of the books from her friend's arms. "You're not studying are you?"  
  
"And the jokes just keep on coming." With his face finally visible, Xander gave Buffy a pained look. "Giles is using me as a pack mule. You'd be amazed at how many books he can fit in that go-cart that he drives. This is the third trip I've made so far."  
  
"Well look on the bright side, you will always be able to find a job in the French Legion. I hear they're always looking for good pack mules."  
  
Xander pushed the library door open and held it as Buffy passed. "Well, aren't you just the regular joke machine today?"  
  
Buffy just shrugged as she entered the library. She saw Giles going through one of the rather large stacks of books on the table in the center of the library. His glasses were slowly making their way toward the end of his noes, and his eyes were going back and forth like a happy dog's tail. He looked over at them as they entered. "Oh, hello Buffy," he said as he put the book he had been look at.  
  
"Hi Giles," she said as she and Xander put the books down on the overcrowded table. "What's with all the books?"  
  
  
  
"Oh haven't you heard? Giles joined The Really Old and Obscure Occult Book of the Month Club." Xander said as he threw himself into a chair. "Get 4000 books for just 1 penny!"  
  
Giles looked at Xander with a slight frown, the turned back to Buffy. "Oh these are just the rest of my books from London. It took me awhile to get around having them sent over."  
  
The Slayer looked at the table full of books. It was an imposing sight. "So these are all of them?"  
  
"Um, no. There are still a few boxes at my home." Giles had looked down at the floor for a moment. "I couldn't fit any more into my car," he mumbled softly.  
  
If Buffy didn't know better, she would have thought he was embarrassed. She just didn't know whether or not it was because of how many books he had or because of his car.  
  
"So how did last night go?" Giles asked, switching the topic rather smoothly.  
  
Buffy took a seat across the table from Xander, but with the books stacked in between them they could bearly see each other. Buffy knew that Xander was had caught the swift change of topic and was surprised that he hadn't commented on it. "Dusted 5 vamps, broke a nail, and almost broke my neck on a tripping on a open grave. You know, the usual."  
  
"5 vampires!" Xander exclaimed. "Buffy, I said it before and I'll say it again 'You da man!'"  
  
Buffy smiled at Xander. One thing about Xander, no matter how tired I am, he can always make me smile she thought.  
  
"Were you injured?" Giles asked.  
  
"No. Well except for the broken nail, and I got that when I tripped on the open grave."  
  
A worried look crossed Giles face. "A vampire rose last night?"  
  
Buffy shook her head. "That's what I thought at first, but the gravestone said that the body had been there for like 4 years."  
  
The worried look turned into a thoughtful one. "4 years? Well that is definitely too long for a vampire to stay in the grave. Was there anything unusual about that particular grave?"  
  
"Other then the fact that the ground looked like someone had been drilling for oil?" she said sarcastically. Buffy thought back for a moment. "Well.there were a lot of feathers scattered around"  
  
The thoughtful look now turned into something that that Buffy couldn't identify. "Feathers?"  
  
Giles began to pace. Both Buffy and Xander watched in confusion for a moment. "What's up G-man?" Xander asked.  
  
Giles stopped pacing. That unidentifiable look was still on his face. "I'm not sure at the moment, but I think I should go and take a look at this grave."  
  
Just then Willow Rosenburg came into the library. "Hey what's with all the books?" she said as she saw the stacks of books on the table. Then she saw the looks on the faces of her friends. "What's going on?"  
  
"Giles wants to go and look at a grave." Xander told his best friend.  
  
"Yay! Field trip!" the redheaded girl said.  
  
Giles, that look still in place, walked to his office and got his coat. "Um, Buffy, do you think you could find this grave again?"  
  
Buffy stood up and picked up her bag. "Sure." She looked at the Watcher closely. "What's going on Giles?"  
  
The worried look returned to his face. "Whatever it is, it's most likely not good."  
  
The foursome left the library. Their destination: the Sunnydale Cemetery. 


	3. Chapter 2

Giles stood in front of the grave of Angela Quinn. He quickly saw that Buffy's description of the site was quite correct. The ground in front of the grave was turned up, as if it were freshly dug. Buffy was right, 4 years old, he thought as he looked at the headstone. But something came out of this grave.  
  
"Perhaps a ghoul," he muttered to himself.  
  
"What's up?" Buffy said from behind him.  
  
"I'm not quite sure yet, but something came out of this grave recently."  
  
He knelt down to investigate the ground. The feathers that Buffy had mentioned were mixed in with the dirt. The Watcher picked one up and looked at it closely. "Look's like a chicken feather," he told the group.  
  
"A chicken?" Willow asked from beside Buffy. "Why would there be chicken feathers in the graveyard?"  
  
"Yeah, Sunnydale isn't exactly know for its amazing live stock pavilions." Xander commented.  
  
Giles ignored both students and continued to sift through dirt. He came across some more feathers, this time stained with blood. It appeared that the dirt and grass surrounding the grave was also splattered with blood. The Watcher stepped back from the grave and looked at it from a distance. The blood wasn't just randomly scattered. Giles noticed that there was a faint circle of dried blood around the front of a grave.  
  
Buffy notice that the she look saw in the library was back on Giles face. Only more so. "So what is it? What's got you all wigged?"  
  
Giles turned to face Buffy, Willow and Xander. "Uh, I believe I know what transpired here." His eyes turned back toward Angela Quinn's grave and stayed there.  
  
The group of friends waited for him to continue. He didn't. He just continued to stare at the upturned dirt. "Well what happened?" Xander asked, breaking Giles out of his pause.  
  
"Uh, well I must consult my books.but I think that someone has, well, raised a zombie."  
  
The group stared at him for a moment. "You mean like, 'Night of the Living Dead' zombies?" Buffy asked finally.  
  
Giles gave them a sort of pained grin. "Well not exactly, but for the moment that is a close enough definition." The Watcher shook his head. " I never believed that I would have to worry about zombies at the Hellmouth."  
  
The students looked at him. "Why not?" Willow asked. "I thought that the whole 'mystical convergence' thing made, you know, stuff like this more.possible?"  
  
Giles pushed his glasses, which had been making their way down his nose, back into position. "Well supernatural and paranormal activity is more likely to occur near the Hellmouth, but zombies aren't something I was prepared for. Zombies, unlike ghouls, must be summoned by a person. Usually a Necromancer or a bokor. They just don't get out of their graves and start walking around," he told them. "Someone has to call it out from the grave."  
  
"Hold on there for a sec." Buffy interrupted. "What's a bokor?"  
  
"A bokor is a voodoo priest that practices black magic," Giles explained.  
  
"Wow, voodoo!" Willow exclaimed. "That's different."  
  
Buffy put up her hand as if to stop Giles. "But that still doesn't explain why you never expected to run into zombies here."  
  
Giles began walking back toward the exit, the group walking beside him. "Well, uh, as a rule, bokor's and Necromancer's try to stay away from vampires. They really don't get along that well. Bokors and Necromancers stay away because vampires are very territorial and don't like to share their hunting grounds with others."  
  
"Well dead is dead right? So why the big hoop-la about turf?" Xander asked as he trailed close behind the others, searching for another piece of gum.  
  
"Well vampires are un-dead, and zombies are just, uh, dead. A vampire can't feed off a zombie because it's dead." Giles answered. "They don't like having to share their food, if they can't get anything out of it."  
  
"Share their food?" Buffy asked.  
  
Giles looked at the ground as they walked, his glasses once again sliding down his nose. "Uh, yes, well, a zombie is usually raised by making a sacrifice. The most common are chickens or goats." Giles seemed to be getting uneasier as he went on. "Afterwards, the zombie must be, uh, fed, if its master wants to keep it from decomposing."  
  
Buffy's face began to look uneasy. "Fed what?"  
  
Giles raised his eyes, and stared straight ahead as they reached the gates of the cemetery. "Well, to keep the zombie for the longest period of time, the master usually feeds it, um, people."  
  
"You mean, like, real, live people?" Willow said, her face showing shock and a little fear.  
  
"Yes," Giles responded as they got to his car. "Real, living people."  
  
"Now I know why you've had that look on your face," Buffy said, her face changing from shock and disgust, to one of deadly intent.  
  
The group crammed into Giles tiny car, Buffy in the front with Giles, Xander and Willow crushed into the back. The fit was so tight, that Willow was practically in Xander's lap. Buffy saw that her face was a bright crimson and that Willow refused to look at Xander the whole trip back to school. Buffy had to stop herself from laughing out loud. It was one of the cutest things she had ever seen.  
  
  
  
When the car pulled up in front of the school, the group seemed to explode from the car. Willow was still blushing as she began to walk up the front steps. What surprised Buffy is that Xander was also a little red in the cheeks. He also seemed to keep tugging at his pants, as if they had rided up on him during the drive. No, Buffy thought, he didn't! This time Buffy couldn't contain herself and laughed out loud.  
  
"What?" Xander exclaimed, looking at Buffy. His face getting redder.  
  
Buffy gave him a sweet smile. "Oh nothing!"  
  
Xander stared at her for a second, then up at Willow, who was almost at the doors of the school and who hadn't heard Buffy laugh. He then shoved his hands into his pockets and walked up toward the school. He didn't look at anyone all the way to the library.  
  
When they reached the library, Buffy noticed that Giles had that look on his face. "We have to find out who's raising them and stop them," the Slayer said, looking at him.  
  
"Yes we do," he said, looking down at the Slayer. "I just wished I knew how." 


	4. Chapter 3

Giles had been going through his books all night. Even with his new additions, he had found very little on zombies. Buffy, Xander, and Willow had tried to help, but with the shear volume of books and with them in no real particular order, they had quickly gotten frustrated. He had sent them home, promising to inform them the next day of anything new.  
  
The weary Watcher rubbed his eyes. He looked down at the book in his hand. It had a dark brown leather trim, the pages slightly yellowed from age and water damage. In it were all the contacts that Giles had met over the years. The names, addresses, and phone numbers of men and women who could provide information on subjects that Giles only had a slight background in. He looked through the pages for someone that could help him. "Ghost.. witches.. succubus.. ah, zombies!"  
  
There was only one name on the page. "Oh, of course."  
  
Giles stared at the name for a moment, thinking of the past. The Watcher would have preferred to leave this part of his history alone. Yet he knew that he needed help. He couldn't send Buffy out to face this danger uninformed.  
  
He came to a decision.  
  
Giles picked up the phone and called an old friend.  
  
  
  
------...------...------  
  
Angelus watched, frustrated, as Buffy walked into her house. A few weeks ago, he would have been able to follow her in, but since her and her damn Watcher had cast a spell on the house, he was stuck on the outside.  
  
He smiled. There's a lot that I can do from the outside, he thought. Then he frowned. Not tonight. Tonight Dru wants me back early.  
  
As he walked back toward the Greenhouse that was his new home, he thought of Buffy. That wasn't a great shock to Angel. He didn't go an hour without thinking of the Slayer. He was obsessed and he knew it. He had given a great deal of thought as to why exactly.  
  
He had told Spike that it was because she had made him feel human. That was true, and he did hate her for it, but there was another reason. Angel just couldn't figure out what it was. I still don't have feelings for her..do I?  
  
As the vampire walked through the cemetery, he noticed a man by a grave on the other side of graveyard. Angel smiled again, even though he had already eaten. "Well," he said to himself, "you never can have too much of a good thing"  
  
As he got closer, he saw that the man was kneeling on by the grave, drawing something on the ground. He didn't seem to notice as Angel came stalking behind him. As he neared the man, Angel caught the smell of blood. This is almost to easy, he thought as his features twisted into what Buffy had called, his game face.  
  
As Angel came within a few feet of the man, he was surprised to see that he had a small chicken in his hands. "You made enough noise to wake the dead," the man said. "Well almost."  
  
The stranger quickly stood up. Angel was surprised to see that his face was painted. He also had a gun. "What do you think your going to do with that? Shoot me?"  
  
"For starters. I thought I'd shoot you in the knees, then the chest. It won't kill you, but it'll hurt like hell." The man removed a long knife from the inside of his coat and grinned, his painted face looking like a death's head. "Then the real fun starts!"  
  
Angel quickly stepped back, his hands infront of chest. "Now, let's not do anything rash. How about I just move along, and let you get back to raising that zombie?"  
  
The man lost his grin. "Now aren't you the smart little vampire? Why should I let you go? Hmm? So you can go and tell all your undead friends that there's a bokor in town?"  
  
Angel stared at the voodoo priest. "No, because if you fire that gun, this place will be full of cops in about 5 minutes. I don't know how long it takes to raise a zombie, but I think it's longer then that."  
  
The vampire and the voodoo master stared at each other. Angel hoped that the bokor wouldn't call his bluff. He knew that the Sunnydale police were deeply stupid. They probably wouldn't even show up if the gun were fired. The man stared at him, trying to decide. Finally, he motioned with the gun. "Alright you can go. I do think, though, that you and I will see each other again."  
  
Angel backed away, his hands lowered. " I'm sure we will. I'll make sure to bring some friends."  
  
The man glanced at the grave he was standing beside. He gave Angel another smile, this one small and deadly. "So will I."  
  
Angel looked at him a second, then turned and ran. He was gone in a few seconds.  
  
The man stared into the darkness for a moment, then turned back to the work that had been so rudely interrupted.  
  
He was still smiling. 


	5. Chapter 4

"God, it's good to be back home!" Eddie Richmond said as he threw his bags down in front of the couch. "I love Houston! It's got a certain something."  
  
Sidney Benson, Eddie's mentor, watched as the young man fell upon the couch and stretched out. "I thought you said Ecuador was a piece of cake?"  
  
The youth looked up at the older man, his face the picture of innocence. "Why Sid! Of course it was! Destroying a drug factory full of zombies and the Reanimator that raised them, was almost toooo easy! When do we get to do the hard stuff? Like invading Hell with snowballs!"  
  
Sidney gave the boy a hasty glance, to make sure that he was joking. Never can tell with that young man, he thought. "Well I'll have to check our schedule. We wouldn't want it conflicting with a prior engagement, now would we?" he said instead.  
  
Eddie just grunted as he turned on the TV. His attention was now entirely focused on the adventures of Mitch Bucannan and the cast of Baywatch. Sidney just shook his head and went to his office.  
  
As he sat down at his desk, the Reanimator thoughts went back to their trip to Ecuador. "Damn fool almost go himself killed," he muttered to himself.  
  
Eddie had burned the entire warehouse down, practically on top them. He had then chased after the magician that had raised 10 zombies and caused the deaths of 14 people. Sufficed to say that Eddie had left less of him then he had the warehouse. "He definitely has his own way of doing things," Sidney thought, "and if he's not careful, it'll get him killed someday."  
  
As the former Watcher candidate thought about giving his protege another lecture on self-control, the light on his answering machine caught his attention. "What have we here?"  
  
He pressed the button on the answering machine and listened. The first message was from his insurance agent, telling him that his premiums had just gone up again. The second was from Donna Holder, a lawyer that he had dated a few times. She asked that he call her immediately to talk about their future together. Or lack there of, Sidney thought.  
  
The third message almost made the Occult expert fall out of his chair. "Uh, hello? Sidney? This is, uh, Rupert Giles. I know that we haven't talked for quite some time, but if you could get in touch with me, rather quickly, I would greatly appreciate it. You can reach me at 684-456-2104. That is the phone number at my home. Please call me as soon as possible. I have a, uh, zombie problem here that I hope you can help me with..also, it would be nice to hear from you again. Good bye. I hope to hear from you soon."  
  
Sidney sat in silence and stared at the answering machine. Rupert Giles. After all these years!  
  
He checked the date of the message and found that Rupert had called a week ago. "Damn!"  
  
"What's the matter?" Eddie yelled from the living room.  
  
The Reanimator walked into the doorway and looked at the boy stretched out on the couch, his bags still where he had left them. "Good, you haven't unpacked."  
  
The young zombie slayer looked at him with suspicion. "Why is that a good thing?"  
  
"Because we're going to Sunnydale, California, that's why.  
  
Confusion filled Eddie's face. "What's in Sunnydale, California?"  
  
"Nothing. Except the Hellmouth, vampires, and now zombies."  
  
Eddie looked at Sidney, his eyes lighting up. "Really?"  
  
"Yes, really. All that and probably more things for you to shoot at."  
  
The young man smiled for a moment, then went deadly serious. "Should I go get more ammo?"  
  
Sidney nodded. "Also, bring that new toy you've been wanting to try out. It may come in handy."  
  
"Yes, sir!"  
  
As Eddie went down to the basement to get the ammo and his "new toy", Sidney started taking their bags back out to the car. "A week. God knows what's happened since Rupert's call," he said to himself.  
  
By the time he had finished getting the last of their bags into the car, Eddie had brought up enough ammo to fight a small war and his "new toy". As he started the car, Sidney looked over at Eddie, who was cleaning his favorite knife. What ever has got Rupert Giles scared enough to phone me after 7 years must be pretty bad, he thought as they got on to the road.  
  
He looked over at Eddie again, who was loading a Glock with .40 Smith & Wesson ammo. Sidney Benson smiled. What ever it is, we can handle it. 


	6. Chapter 5

Giles sat at his desk, going through a stack of books that, to Willow, looked incredibly old and dusty. "What are you doing Giles?" she asked as she sat down at the table in the middle of the Library.  
  
The Watcher looked up, a surprised look on his face. Willow had noticed that during the last week or so, Giles had become a little more jumpy and nervous then usual. "Oh, hello Willow. Well I'm attempting to do some research on our, uh, most resent problem," the librarian answered.  
  
Willow looked closer at Giles, noticing the dark circles around his eyes and the general disheveled look of the middle aged man. "Zombies? I thought that you had called someone about that?"  
  
Giles nodded. "I did, but he hasn't returned my call yet." He waved at the books scattered around him. "I'm trying to find out as much as I can until he does."  
  
"Find out anything interesting?" Willow asked.  
  
Giles gave her a small smile. "Well, yes actually. Apparently the only way to really kill a zombie, is to burn it."  
  
"Well then, Hey! Buffy can just go and burn all the zombies!" the young girl exclaimed.  
  
The Watcher shook his head. "No, it's too dangerous to have Buffy going around Sunnydale at night, setting zombies on fire. It's too much exposure for her, and it will leave her a target for Angel and other vampires. Plus, there would be no way of knowing if she had destroyed all of the zombies, even if she did find the person or persons who are responsible for raising them."  
  
"Well when you put it that way." Willow said slightly deflated.  
  
"I hope that Sidney can tell me of another way to be rid of them. A spell perhaps, or a ritual."  
  
Willow watched Giles as he thought about his friend. "Um, so where did you meet Sidney?"  
  
The older man looked down at his desk for a moment, his face turning slightly red at being caught reminiscing. "Oh, I met Sidney when I first started studying at Oxford. Sidney was also training to become a Watcher." Giles smiled at the memory, his face softening and relaxing.  
  
"Like myself, Sidney's ancestors were also Watchers. Also like me, Sidney was not thrilled at having his life planned out for him. We became close friends, even though Sidney was a few years older then me."  
  
Willow listened closely to Giles. Giles rarely discussed his past with them, even after Ethan and the mark of Igon came back to haunt him. "What was he like?" she asked.  
  
The Watcher's smile quickly turned into a grin. "Oh, Sidney and I were very different then each other. When I first got to Oxford, I was very serious. Until I met Sidney, I didn't do much of anything except study." Giles grin got bigger as he went along with his story. "Sidney on the other hand was very popular with both the ladies and the gents. He studied very little, but received better grades then I did."  
  
Willow looked surprised that anyone could do better in school then Giles. "But, you're like, School Guy!"  
  
This time it was Giles who looked surprised. That's the way they see me? Instead he said, "Well Sid has a natural talent for the occult. His family history is full of witches, warlocks, Necromancers, and Watchers. I believe that Sidney's great-great-great-great-grandmother was actually a Slayer. Also, Sidney is one of the best Reanimators I have ever come across."  
  
Willow gave Giles a confused look. "What's a Reanimator?"  
  
"A Reanimator is a person who, through different types of magiks, can raise the dead for a short time. They can also call spirits and demons," he explained.  
  
"Oh," the red haired girl said. "Then what's a Necromancer?"  
  
"A Necromancer is a person who has a natural talent for raising the dead. They have something inside them that give them a certain power over the dead. They do not need to cast spells like a Reanimator, or perform rituals like a bokor." Giles told her. "They are quite rare, which is why I think that we are dealing with a bokor. A Necromancer or a Reanimator wouldn't have left such clues as we have found."  
  
Willow nodded. "Ok I got it. So Sidney has a long family history with occult stuff, and." she replied, trying to get Giles to keep going with his story.  
  
"Uh, well, Sidney and I got along famously, right from the start. I helped him keep his mind on his studies, uh, well some of the time, and he tried to stop me from obsessing about mine. Though it turned out that I was more successful at getting Sidney to study, then he was at getting me to relax." Giles face darkened. "When I ran off to London, Sidney went after me.  
  
Willow decided not to say anything and let Giles continue at his own pace. "We got into an argument." He said after a few moments. "Sidney wanted me to come back to Oxford with him. He told me that I would only get into trouble with the group I was associating with. I told him to mind his own business and to stay out of my life. He listened and let me be." The Watcher again cast his eyes downward, not to hide embarrassment but pain. "If he hadn't, perhaps both our lives might have turned out differently."  
  
As she watched Giles deal with the pain of his past, Willow wanted to run over and comfort him. She decided not to. He doesn't want to be comforted. He wants his pain.  
  
After a long pause, Giles continued. "Even though he promised to stay out of my life, Sidney decided to stay in London for awhile. He met a young art history student, Mary Lindsey. They fell in love and got married after only 3 months. When I finally did return to Oxford, Sidney told me the news."  
  
Giles gave in to a slight smile. "I remember being so shocked that I fell out of the chair I was sitting in at the time." The Watcher looked up at Willow. "Sidney had always vowed to stay a bachelor for life. Also, Watchers aren't supposed to get married till after they had finished training their Slayer."  
  
Willow nodded, but didn't say anything.  
  
"We tried to go back to the way things were before London, but my.adventure had changed the way I looked at life, just as Sidney's marriage changed the way he did. A few months after Sidney had returned from Oxford, Mary was killed in a car accident. He found out afterward that she had been coming up to see him. And to tell him that she was pregnete."  
  
"Oh no!" Willow whispered.  
  
Giles didn't even hear her.  
  
"Sidney took Mary's death very badly. He neglected his studies and his training. He locked himself away from everyone, refusing to leave his apartment. I visited him regularly, trying to keep him from falling too far behind. The last time I saw him, we sat around and talked as if London had never happened. As I was leaving, he gave me a letter and asked that I not read it till tomorrow morning." Giles stopped and took a deep breath. "I thought it was a suicide note at first, but Sidney was not the type to kill himself, no matter what had happened. He had too much pride to do that."  
  
Willow watched the older man in silence, finally realizing what kind of pain this story had brought to the surface.  
  
"It was a farewell letter." Giles said simply. "He was leaving Oxford and his training as a Watcher. He wrote that he couldn't stand to spend his life preparing to train a girl whose fate it was to face all the evil the world could produce and then watch her die. He left England for Europe, and then ended up here in the U.S. I received letters periodically. Just short notes telling me where he is and that he was doing well. The last letter I received was about 3 years ago. Sidney had settled down in Houston, Texas, and was doing some sort of consulting work. He gave me a phone number and told me to call him if I ever needed help with anything. I haven't really thought of him since then."  
  
Giles was silent. Willow sat at the table and stared at her hands.  
  
The silence remained until Xander came through the entrance whistling one of those jaunty tunes he liked so much.  
  
"Yikes! What's with all the glum faces?" the dark-haired boy asked as he noticed the awkward silence that filled the Library. When no one answered right away, he stopped. "Is everything ok? Something didn't happen did it?" he asked worriedly.  
  
"No, everything is fine Xander." Giles said before Willow could say anything. "Where's Buffy?"  
  
Willow got the hint. Ok, it's private. I won't tell anyone, Giles.  
  
"Principal Snyder caught Buffy outside of English." Xander was saying. "He's chewing her out about missing class yesterday. She sent me to call in the cavalry. The cavalry with all those beautiful blue excuse notes."  
  
"Ah, yes, of course." The Watcher replied, his composure restored. "Outside English, did you say?"  
  
As Willow followed Giles and Xander out of the Library, she thought about the level of trust that Giles had given her. She swore to herself that she would not waste it.  
  
  
  
30 seconds after the group had left, the phone on Giles desk rang. 


	7. Chapter 6

Eddie watched as Sidney closed his cell phone. "What, no one pick up?"  
  
The Reanimator simply nodded, looking disappointed. "Perhaps he's finished work for the day."  
  
The young zombie hunter glanced at his watch. "School's not over for another hour. He's probably just stepped out of his classroom."  
  
"Rupert's the school librarian, not a teacher." Sidney told his young pupil.  
  
"Whatever." Eddie said, dismissing the difference with a wave of his hand. "The point is that he's still here somewhere. We just have to go and find him."  
  
Sidney stared out of his window at the school. "It's not that easy, Eddie." He said quietly.  
  
Eddie was fed up with his teacher's indecisiveness. "Like hell it ain't! We go up there, ask where he is, and then you go and talk to him. It's not all that complicated."  
  
Sidney continued to stare at the school. "I don't know what I'm going to say to him." He said almost to himself. "It has been a great number of years since we've seen each other."  
  
Eddie eyed his friend. The man has killed zombies with a fire ax, and he's worried about seeing an old friend, he thought to himself. "You say 'Hey there, long time no see. You wanna catch up over a beer or something?' or something like that." Eddie said instead. "He'll probably be so thrilled to see you, he'll have a hard time thinking of anything to say either."  
  
Sidney brought his eyes away from the school and stared at Eddie instead. "I doubt that it'll go that simply," he said with more then a little amusement in his voice.  
  
  
  
"Sure it will," Eddie said as he unbuckled his seat belt. "Not all you Brits are as uptight as you. So get off your arse, and let go find ourselves a Watcher."  
  
Sidney tried to look offended. "I am not uptight. I'm conservative."  
  
Eddie laughed as he got out of the car. "Yeah, that's it. The fact that you're an old fart has absolutely nothing to do with it I'm sure."  
  
As the pair made their way up the steps of Sunnydale High School, Sidney straightened his tie and tried to fix his hair. "Please keep your amazing character insights to a minimum, Eddie. Anyways," the older man said. "If you think I'm uptight, wait till you meet Rupert Giles"  
  
  
  
Once the duo was inside the school, Eddie decided that they should split up. "You go to the main office and ask them to page him. I'll go to the Library and see if he's there." The younger man said. "If you find him, you two go to the Library. If I find him, I'll bring him to the main office."  
  
"I don't think we should split up," Sidney said. You're liable to burn the school to the ground if I don't keep an eye on you he added silently.  
  
Eddie sighed out loud. "Why not? You think I'm gonna burn the school down if you don't keep an eye on me?"  
  
"Of course not! Don't be ridiculous." The Reanimator said rather quickly.  
  
The younger man gave Sidney a long look. "Well then get the hell out of here! Go find the main office." With that he began to walk down the hallway in search of the Sunnydale High Library.  
  
Sidney watched Eddie walk away, then shrugged and went to find the main office.  
  
  
  
.____..____.  
  
  
  
Why does he hate me so much? Buffy asked herself silently as Principal Snyder gave her the Third Degree about missing class yesterday.  
  
"You've used this excuse of doing an errand for Mr. Giles too many times." Principal Snyder went on. "I don't know why he continues to cover for you, but sooner or later your not going to have him to protect you, and then your mine."  
  
Buffy looked at the short man who held her academic future in his hands. "But I really was doing an earned of Mr. Giles. If you'd just ask him, I'm sure he'll have that excuse slip that I forgot on his desk." She said with her best innocent little girl look.  
  
Principal Snyder just looked at her as if she were a bug that he would love to squash. "Just remember Summers, I'm watching you. It's just a matter of time till you slip up and I have the excuse to throw you out of my school." With that he turned away and headed off down the hall.  
  
It just isn't fair! The Slayer thought as she walked toward the Library. I risk my life on a daily basis to protect the world from vampires and the forces of darkness, and all I get for my trouble is threats of getting thrown out of school!  
  
Buffy continued to dwell on the total unfairness of life in general, and Principal Snyder in specific until she reached the Library. Some Watcher Giles is anyway. Where was is he when that little troll crawls out from under his bridge and gives me grief about missing school?  
  
As she entered the Library, Buffy was surprised to see the weapons locker open. She immediately went on guard as she made her way through the library. "Where is everyone," she said quietly.  
  
Buffy walked through the Library silently, the stake from her purse in hand. When she started to pass Giles office, the back of her neck started to tingle. She looked over and saw a boy she had never seen before, going through Giles private files. It too early for vampires she thought. But whoever it is, he's not supposed to be here.  
  
The boy in question didn't seem to notice that he wasn't alone in the Library until Buffy came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder with the steak. "Didn't anyone ever tell you, its not polite to go through a strangers private stuff, with out permission?" Buffy asked as she placed the pointed end of the stake into his back. "In fact, I'd say it's down right rude."  
  
The boy put down the book he had been going through and turned around to face Buffy. "It's also rude to sneak up behind someone you don't know and poke them with a stake. But I guess that your Watcher isn't too concerned with teaching his Slayer manners," he said.  
  
Ok, so he knows what Giles is and what I am. That just means that he's more then a lost student, the blond haired Slayer thought, as she looked the intruder over. The boy was just over 6 feet tall, his dark brown hair was rather long, and hung down to frame his green eyes. He looked a little older then Xander, but he gave off an aura that screamed dangerous guy to Buffy. He was dressed in black jeans, a dark blue T-shirt, and a long over coat that was definitely not suited for today's weather. Definitely a person that is not on the side of goodness.  
  
"Well, you'll have to excuse me if I think that you're the last person that I'd take advice on manners from." Buffy said as she looked over to see what book the boy had been reading. Giles Watcher Diary.  
  
The dark haired boy looked bored as Buffy pushed him out of the office. "Now what?" He asked as they reached the main floor of the Library. "Should I ask for a lawyer and my one phone call?"  
  
"Wow! Thieves are just getting funnier and funnier now a days." Buffy said as she moved around so that she was face to face with the boy. "I think that we'll just wait here till Giles gets back. He's probably going to want to know why you wanted his Watcher Diary. Yep! That sounds like a plan to me."  
  
The strange boy just watched as she moved around to face him. When Buffy was almost in front of him, he shot his foot out and kicked the stake out of her hand and sent it flying toward the other end of the Library.  
  
Buffy answered back with a punch aimed at the boy's midsection. The intruder stepped back, grabbed her fist and swung her around into his knee. As Buffy gasped for breath, the boy threw face first onto the large table in the center of the Library.  
  
Oww! Buffy thought as she started to get up from the table. This guy's stronger then he looks.  
  
Before she was off the table, the dark clothed boy had pulled Buffy's right arm back and held her down, face first, onto the table. "Now," the boy's voice said into her ear, " what say we consider my plan?" 


	8. Chapter 7

"You said they were in front of your English class." Giles said as the group reached their destination. "The appear to have, uh, left."  
  
Giles was right, the hallway was deserted.  
  
"Well, maybe she went to class." Willow spoke up. Both Giles and Xander gave her a raised eyebrow. Well Giles did, and Xander tried. "Or maybe not."  
  
"You guys think that Snyder took her to the office to book her?" Xander said, finally giving up trying to raise an eyebrow.  
  
Giles considered for a moment for a moment. "You're probably right." He sighed. "I should go over and clear things up with Principal Snyder."  
  
"You mean lie, don't you?" Xander said with a slight smile.  
  
"Well, uh, yes," the Watcher said, slightly chagrined.  
  
The three of them made their way to Sunnydale High's main office, Xander and Willow arguing the whole way as to why Principal Snyder disliked Buffy so much.  
  
"It's because he's evil I tell you, EVIL!" Xander insisted as they stood in front of the main office.  
  
"He's not evil, he just a big meanie!" Willow replied.  
  
Giles waited until they were finished debating. "I should probably go in by myself." The librarian said. "Principal Snyder would probably ask why the two of you aren't in class." He paused. "Why aren't you in class?"  
  
"Uh, we're concerned that Buffy might be in trouble!" Xander said, surprise, or his best impression, in his voice. "That you're insinuating that we would use Buffy's problems with Principal Snyder as a reason to cut, uh, I mean, miss class, is shocking!"  
  
Willow nodded in agreement with Xander. "I'm in shock."  
  
Giles gave both of them a long look, 'hmphed!' and entered the office.  
  
Xander turned to Willow. "You think he bought it?"  
  
Willow nodded again. "Yeah, maybe even a little." She said solemnly.  
  
.-----..--- --.  
  
  
  
Giles stood in Principal Snyder's office, listening to the principal tell him what was wrong with the students of Sunnydale High. "They wander around, staring slack-jawed at the hard working teachers that try to give them something, something that they can use." Snyder said. " And these glass-eyed fools just nod their heads, look at the clock, and do their homework if they have time between satisfying their carnal lusts!"  
  
Giles listened to all this with out comment. He had tried on more then a few occasions to convince Principal Snyder that his beliefs about the students were, for the most part, wrong. I still have no idea why he decided to become a principal, he thought. "Err, yes, well, uh, here is the excuse slip that Buffy had forgotten in the Library," the Watcher said instead.  
  
Snyder's face darkened. "Summers." He said with contempt. "She's the worst one of all. Just prances in here whenever she pleases. Cuts class, gets into fights, and creates general chaos wherever she goes. I really don't know why you protect this hoodlum, Mr. Giles."  
  
"I'm not protecting her, Principal Snyder. Buffy really was on an errand for yesterday." Giles lied smoothly. He was getting pretty good at lying. He was starting to get worried about it.  
  
"Maybe she was," the short principal said. " But sooner or later she's going to slip up. Then she's mine." An eager smile formed on Snyder's face as he imagined expelling Buffy out of school.  
  
"Uh, yes. Well I must get back to the Library. Paper work and all that." Giles said taking advantage of Snyder's drift into fantasyland. "If you will excuse me."  
  
  
  
Principal Snyder nodded, his smile still in place. He didn't say good bye as Giles left his office.  
  
  
  
.----..----.  
  
  
  
Xander was staring at his reflection in a display case outside the office, trying to master the difficult art of eyebrow raising, when a man who looked lost came up and taped him on the shoulder. "Uh, excuse me, but could you tell me if this is the main office?" he asked with a British accent.  
  
Xander turned away from his reflection and toward the man, his right eyebrow raised straight up. It gave him a slightly crazed look. "Yes, it is," Xander replied.  
  
A surprised look came to the man's face as he quickly took a step back from the tall boy, his right hand going into his coat pocket. Willow, who had been reading her history book, stood up and slapped Xander on the arm. "Stop doing that! You're starting to scare people."  
  
Xander looked embarrassed. "Sorry," he muttered toward the man who had interrupted him.  
  
"Quite all right," the stranger replied after staring the two students for a moment. His both his hands were now visible. "Uh, do you young people go to this school? Perhaps you could help me locate a member of the faculty."  
  
Xander, both eyebrows back where they're supposed to be, nodded once. "Yeah, we go here. Who you looking for?" he replied.  
  
The man smiled. "I believe that he is the librarian, Rupert Giles is his name."  
  
Both Xander and Willow stared at the man for a moment. "You're looking for Giles?" Willow finally asked.  
  
"Yes, yes I am," the man said, his smile growing. "Would you know where I could find him? I phoned his office, but no one picked up."  
  
Xander gave the man a long look. "Why you looking for him?"  
  
The man looked a little surprised by the question. "Uh, I'm an old friend of Rupert's, uh, Mr. Giles. He called me last week in relation to a, ah, problem he had." The man said. "My name is Sidney Benson."  
  
Xander looked at Willow. Willow stared at Sidney. Sidney looked at the two of them. "He, its nice to meet you Mr. Benson. Giles has mentioned you before." Willow said after some thought. "Giles is in the office. He should be out in a minute or two."  
  
Xander stared at Willow. "When did Giles mention him? He didn't mention him to me! Did I miss a newsletter or something?"  
  
"Later," Willow muttered to her friend.  
  
"Uh, he mentioned me?" Sidney asked, his face guarded.  
  
Willow leaned in toward Giles friend, "Yes. Giles said that he called you for some advice," she whispered. "About zombies."  
  
Both Sidney and Xander's eyes widened. "He told you that?" Sidney asked, his face showing shock.  
  
Xander just stared at his oldest friend as she nodded. "When was this? How come nobody is telling me stuff?" he asked, a little upset.  
  
Before Willow could answer, the door to the main office opened and Giles came out. When he saw Sidney, he stopped in his tracks and simply looked at the other man.  
  
Sidney looked at his old friend and smiled nervously. "Hello Rupert." He said after a very awkward few seconds. "It's been a long time."  
  
Giles continued to stare at Sidney for a few seconds before shaking himself out of it. "Uh, yes it has. How have you been Sid?" he asked, his voice shaking more then the rest of him.  
  
Sidney smiled again. "I've been quite well, in fact. Very busy, the last few years." The Reanimator replied. "And you?"  
  
This time it was Giles who smiled. "I've been getting along. Been quite busy myself the past couple years."  
  
The awkward silence returned as both men just looked at each other.  
  
Xander, who had been watching the exchange with Willow, cleared his throat. "Ahem!"  
  
Both men looked over at the pair of teenagers. "Oh, how rude of me!" Giles said, slightly relieved that the silence had been broken. "Uh, Xander, Willow, this is Sidney Benson, an old friend of mine from my Oxford days. Sidney," he said turning to his friend," this is Xander Harris and Willow Rosenburg."  
  
Sidney shook both their hands. "Nice to meet the both of you." He turned to Giles. "Willow here says that you mentioned me."  
  
Giles gave Willow a quick look," What exactly did she say?" he asked, his voice sounding a little angry.  
  
Before Sidney could reply, Willow spoke up. "I just said that you had mentioned that you had called him for advice on how to deal with the zombies!" She said rather loudly and quickly.  
  
Giles, Sidney and Xander all looked around to see if anyone had heard Willow's outburst. "Perhaps we should head to the Library." Giles said when he didn't notice anyone in the hall. "We may have a little more privacy."  
  
Sidney nodded, and they both began to walk down the hall toward the Library. "Uh, hello?" Xander said from behind them. "What about Buffy? Is she ok?"  
  
Giles turned around and seemed ready smack himself on the forehead. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Principal Snyder said that he sent her to class." The Watcher said apologetically. "Which means that she's most likely waiting for me in the Library."  
  
"Buffy? Who is she?" Sidney asked.  
  
"Uh, Buffy is the Slayer." Giles answered.  
  
A strange look came on to Sidney's face. "The Slayer is waiting for you in the Library?"  
  
Giles nodded. "Most likely."  
  
Sidney turned around and started to quickly walk down the hallway. "Is there a problem Sidney?" Giles asked as he caught up to his friend.  
  
The former Watcher didn't answer immediately. "Probably." He said after a moment. "Eddie went to the Library."  
  
"Who's Eddie?" Giles, Xander and Willow all asked at once.  
  
"Eddie is my Slayer."  
  
"Your Slayer?" Giles said totally stunned.  
  
"Yes, my Slayer." Sidney said, his pace quickening.  
  
"Your Slayer's a guy?" Willow asked as she tried to keep up with the two older men.  
  
"Yeah, I thought that Slayers are all supposed to be, you know, girls." Xander said.  
  
Sidney sighed. "I will happily explain everything once we get to the Library."  
  
"Why the rush?" A worried Giles asked. "What's the problem?"  
  
"The problem is that Eddie might, well, do something to your Slayer." The Reanimator said, his voice tense.  
  
Giles caught up to his friend and stopped him. "What does something mean?" he demanded.  
  
Sidney looked Giles right in the eyes. "Something means, provoke a fight with."  
  
The librarian looked right back at his oldest friend and considered. "Should we run?"  
  
This time it was Sidney who considered. "No. But we should walk fast."  
  
The two older men started toward the Library as fast as they could without running. Xander and Willow were close behind. 


	9. Chapter 8

Buffy winced as pain shot up right arm. "Well I'm always open to others opinions" she said through clenched teeth.  
  
The Eddie leaned in close. "An open mind," he said quietly into her ear, his breath smelled faintly of cigarettes and mint gum. "How original."  
  
When his head was just a few inches away, Buffy snapped her head back, hitting him on the bridge of the nose. "Well I'm nothing if not original," the Slayer said as her arm was set free and her opponent staggered back.  
  
When she turned around, Buffy saw that the dark-haired boy had backed away and was holding his nose. "Nice shot," he said as he inspected his injured proboscis. He took his hands away and smiled at her. "You almost broke it."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Buffy said sarcastically. "Next time I'll be sure to try harder,"  
  
Eddie raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Next time? Don't tell my you're quitting already!" With that he lunged at her, arms outstretched to grab her.  
  
Buffy dodged out of his way and spun around with an elbow that hit the boy in the middle of his back. Buffy followed the elbow with a sharp kick to the stomach. "Not by a long shot, buddy!" as she stared down at the doubled over youth. The Slayer moved to finish off the intruder with a kick to the face.  
  
"Good, cause I'm not even warmed up yet!" The male slayer stood up straight and caught Buffy's foot as it came toward him. His right hand shot out, hitting the Slayer in the solarplexus and knocking the breath out of her. He dropped her leg, spun around and hit her with the back of his left hand, causing her to see stars.  
  
"Ok, that hurt." Buffy muttered as she tried to clear her vision. This guy is playing for keeps. Well so can I, she thought as her attacker came at her again. The stranger brought his left leg around fast, hitting her in the ribs. Buffy took the blow and answered back with one of her own. Off balance, the boy started to fall toward the large table in the center of the library. Before he could steady himself, Buffy hit him with a hard right hand to the face. Then a kick to the ribs. Followed quickly by a knee to the stomach.  
  
Eddie found himself leaning against a bookcase, dazed and in pain. Ok she want's to play rough. I can do rough. He straightened his body and waited till the blond-haired girl came close enough to hit him again. When Buffy tried to hit him with a roundhouse to the face, Eddie ducked, grabbed her leg and hurled her through the air and over the table toward the weapons locker.  
  
Buffy landed hard on her back. She looked around and saw Eddie coming slowly around the far side of the table, his eyes alert and slight smile on his lips. "You ok? You want to stop?" he asked, the smile fading slightly.  
  
Buffy looked around her and took in her surroundings in a second. She saw the stake she had taken from her purse on the other side of the table. Too far. He'll catch me before I get half way to it. Behind her was the weapons locker, full of all sorts of things she could use beat the crap out of the boy who had thrown her clear across the room. Bo, mace, sword, stakes, crossbow.Buffy thought up her plan in a moment. She started to get up and then fell back farther into the locker. "You're good." Buffy said as she looked up at her opponent. "You're strong, maybe as strong as me."  
  
Eddie watched her as she tried to get up again. "But I don't give up that easily." She told him as she pulled herself up, using the door as leverage. "Cause you see, I have something you don't."  
  
The young boy smiled again. "Really? Like what?" he asked. "A broken rib? Sprained ankle? Really, come on give it up! Then we can talk until my Watcher and Mr. Giles get here." His voice was soft. Mocking but almost comforting at the same time.  
  
His Watcher? The Slayer thought, what the hell is this guy on? "You're are funny guy, really you are, but I don't think so." She said instead. "'Cause, you see, that thing that I have and you don't?" Buffy stood up straight and back flipped into the back of the weapons locker, flicked the crossbow into the air with her foot and caught it. "Is this."  
  
Eddie saw the crossbow in the girl's hands and smiled a confident grin. "Oh, and I guess this is the part where I back away and wait until your Watcher gets here, so the two of you can figure out who I am and what I'm doing here, right?"  
  
Buffy began to walk out of the locker, crossbow aimed at the stranger's chest. "Well give the boy a gold star, he figured it out on the first try! Now start on the backing away part."  
  
Eddie's smiled disappeared. It totally changed his face. One moment he was a cocky, grinning teenager, the next he was as cold as a statue. "No," he said, his voice as cold as his face.  
  
"Ok, maybe you don't understand the concept," the Slayer told her opponent. " You see, I have a crossbow. You don't. That means I get to tell you what to do. Right now that means you go and stand on the other side of the table." She realigned the aim of the crossbow so that it was aimed at his heart.  
  
"I understand the concept completely." Eddie said as he began to walk toward Buffy. "What you don't understand is the situation. I'm not going to go and stand on the other side of that table, because you have that crossbow. I'm going to walk over there and take that crossbow from you, because you have that crossbow." He walked toward her slowly, arms at his sides. "You know why? Because you don't have the balls to use it on me. I'm unarmed, I'm not a vampire. You can't kill me in cold blood can you?" He was almost half way to her. "Can you?"  
  
Buffy watched as the boy walked toward her, his voice totally calm. She saw in his eyes that he believed what he was saying. He's crazed! "Ok, stop where you are! If you don't, I'll pull this trigger and end whatever delusional life you think you have."  
  
Eddie smiled again. This time there was no humor in it. It was a dead smile. A smile that showed just how much he took her warning seriously. "I don't think so." He kept walking toward her.  
  
Just when Buffy was about to warn him again, the Library doors burst open. Giles saw the scene and shouted, "Buffy don't!"  
  
She was so surprised by the interruption, that her hands convulsed and she pulled the trigger.  
  
The arrow shot through the air and hit Eddie straight in the chest with a hollow thud. A surprised look settled on his face. He looked down at the arrow imbedded in his chest and smiled. "You did it!" Then he fell back and closed his eyes.  
  
  
  
----.----.----  
  
Giles and Sidney were almost at the Library. Both were slightly out of breath from their race across the school. "God, I hope Eddie doesn't hurt your Slayer," Sidney said as they reached the final hallway leading to the Library.  
  
Giles turned to his friend. "Buffy can take care of herself. I'm more worried what she will do to your Slayer."  
  
"Your Buffy isn't in the habit of wearing bullet proof vests, is she?"  
  
Giles almost stopped in his tracks. "You mean to tell me that your Eddie has a gun?"  
  
Sidney nodded, his pace never faltering. "Probably more then one."  
  
"My God!" Giles muttered as he quickened his stride.  
  
They had almost reached the Library when Xander and Willow came running up to them. "Hey, wait up!" Willow said as they caught up to the two older men.  
  
"Boy, you guys are fast for a couple of old guys!" Xander said when they all stood infront of the Library doors.  
  
Both men ignored the young pair as they burst through the doors of the Library. The first thing Giles saw was Buffy aiming a crossbow at a dark dressed young man who was walking toward her. Both of them looked slightly battered, and the Library was in dissary. "Buffy, don't!"  
  
The Slayer practically jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice. The crossbow fired and the arrow sailed through the air and hit the young man square in the chest. "You did it!" the boy said before falling to the ground.  
  
"Holy shit!" Xander exclaimed when he saw the scene. "What the hell happened!"  
  
"Buffy! Are you ok?" Willow said as she rushed to her friend.  
  
Before anyone could reach her, Buffy slid to the ground and stared at the floor. "I warned him." She said more to herself then to anyone else. "I told him to back away. He didn't. I had no choice!" The last comment was directed to the newly arrived group.  
  
Willow sat down beside the blond-haired girl and held her hands. "It's not your fault, Buffy. You had no way of knowing that he was a Slayer."  
  
Buffy looked up at her red-haired friend, tears starting to come to her eyes. "He was a Slayer! I thought he was nuts. You know, crazed!" She stared up at Giles. "I thought he was just trying to throw me off. Slayer's are supposed to be girls only!"  
  
Before Giles could answer her, she noticed Sidney staring at the body of Eddie, his face expressionless. "Were you.were you his Watcher?" she asked, her voice trembling a little.  
  
Sidney continued to look at body on the floor. "I still am his Watcher." His voice more annoyed then anything else.  
  
"What?" both Giles and Buffy in unison.  
  
"I said I still am his Watcher, and right now I'm getting very mad at my Slayer." Now anger started to creep into his speech.  
  
Giles walked over to his long time friend. "I know this is a tremendous shock to you Sidney."  
  
Sidney kicked Eddie hard in the ribs. "Get up this instant, Eddie! You're scaring Buffy."  
  
The body lay still for a moment. Then Eddie opened his eyes. "Her name is Buffy?"  
  
"What the hell!" Buffy practically shouted. "You're supposed to be dead!"  
  
Eddie got up from the floor, brushing the dust on his coat. "Yeah I get that a lot." The zombie slayer noticed that everyone but Sidney looked amazed. Then he saw that he still had the arrow protruding from his chest. He gave it a tug and it came out intact. He threw it on the table nonchalantly and smiled at the group. "You've gotta love body armor."  
  
"What?" Buffy said as she walked toward him.  
  
Eddie opened his coat and then his shirt. Underneath was a dull black material. "Never enter a Hellmouth without it."  
  
Buffy stopped and stared at him for a moment. Then she marched over to him and slugged him with all her strength in the face. Eddie swayed for a second, then fell to the ground. He didn't get up this time.  
  
Sidney looked down at his protégé and then back up at Buffy. "Well done," he told her. 


	10. Chapter 9

Xander, sitting across the table, watched as Eddie came to. Jesus, Buffy really nailed him, the boy thought. Eddie, meanwhile, was looking around the Library, trying to get his barrings. "You ok?" Xander asked.  
  
Eddie looked across the table, his eyes focusing on Xander. "She hit me, didn't she?" he asked as he rubbed his jaw.  
  
The dark-haired boy nodded, but didn't say anything.  
  
"Good for her!" The male Slayer replied a smile on his face. "I thought she would cry or apologize or something."  
  
"Well then you don't know Buffy. She's not the apologizing type." Xander said, a little surprised at Eddie's nonchalance with being knocked on his ass by a girl. "She's more the 'hit you in face, knock you senseless' type."  
  
This time it was Eddie who nodded. "Good. That's what I was hoping for," he said as he stood up and stretched. "Anyways, I disserved it."  
  
"Yeah, you did", Xander said in total agreement. "You're really luck she didn't kill you."  
  
Eddie smiled again, this time in amusement. "Oh I doubt she would have gotten the chance. If I really thought she was a threat, she would have been dead before she got within 4 feet of me."  
  
Xander stared at the boy in amazement. "Boy, you're in a fantasy world! Buffy could have kicked your ass, and not even broken a nail."  
  
"Oh, I'm not doubting her fighting ability," the young man said. "I'm saying that she wouldn't have gotten the chance to use them."  
  
"Why not?" Xander asked.  
  
Eddie lost his smile, reached back and pulled out a large black pistol. "Oh, just call it a feeling," he said as he placed the firearm on the table.  
  
  
  
Xander looked at the gun and then back at Eddie. "Ah, that a Glock?" he said after failing to come up with a response.  
  
Eddie, who had been looking around the Library for Sidney, turned back toward Xander. "Yeah, Model-27, why?"  
  
Xander picked up the Glock. He inspected closely, then removed the clip and inspected the ammo. "This is .40 Smith&Wesson, isn't it?"  
  
Eddie looked at Xander, impressed despite himself. "Yeah, it is. You know a lot about guns?"  
  
Memories of his transformation on Halloween and his recent visit to the local army base filled Xander's mind. "Oh, just a little." He said as he fiddled with the gun.  
  
Eddie watched as Xander inspected the gun again, looking at the clip and down the barrel of the handgun. "Careful," he warned. "There's still a round in the chamber."  
  
"Oh, yeah," he mumbled. Xander pulled back on the top of the gun and released the bullet into the palm of his right hand. "Thanks."  
  
Eddie turned away from Xander and walked toward the office on the far side of the Library. He saw Sidney and Giles through the glass partion. They appeared to be talking intensely, Giles gesturing with his hands. The zombie Slayer began walking toward the office, when Sidney caught his eye. Sidney motioned for Eddie not to intervene and to stay put. Eddie stopped and shrugged. If Sid doesn't want my help, fine, he thought.  
  
Looking around he noticed that Buffy and the red-haired girl were gone. Looking over at Xander, he saw the teenaged boy was still looking at the Glock. The male Slayer shrugged again, and walked back to the table. "So," he asked as he sat down across from Xander. "Where'd you learn about guns?"  
  
..-----...-----..  
  
  
  
After knocking out Eddie, Buffy had stormed out of the Library. Willow had quickly followed her friend, telling Xander and Giles that she'd handle it. What the heck was I thinking? Willow thought as she sat beside a very angry Slayer.  
  
"This isn't fair!" Buffy said for the third time. "Why did Giles call for this other Slayer? Doesn't he think that I can handle a bunch of stupid zombies by myself?"  
  
Willow paused before answering her friend. "You know Giles has faith in you. I think he called Sidney because it was him who needed help."  
  
"If he has so much faith in me, why didn't he tell me about this other Slayer? This Slayer who is a guy!" Buffy asked, her face showing her confusion and anger.  
  
"Well, maybe Giles didn't know about him." Willow told her distressed friend. "Remember, Giles didn't know about Kendra till she showed up."  
  
"Yeah, well I don't care!" Buffy told Willow. "I've had up to here with all these Slayers showing up, starting fights with me, and then telling me how to do my job. This stops now!" With that, the Slayer got up and started toward the Library.  
  
Willow quickly stopped the blond-haired Slayer. "Buffy, listen! You just can't go in there and start yelling at him about stuff that he didn't even know about!"  
  
Buffy stopped. "Why not?" she asked defiantly.  
  
"Because Giles and Sidney, Eddie's Watcher, haven't seen each other in, like, forever!" Willow explained. "If you go in there, yelling at Giles about how it's unfair that there are other Slayers, Giles might never forgive you!"  
  
Buffy was quiet for a minute. "I wouldn't have yelled," she said, slightly deflated. "I. would have spoken strongly."  
  
Willow raised an eyebrow and looked skeptically at Buffy. "Ok! Ok! I would have yelled! Stop giving me the big eye." Buffy said her hands infront of her chest as if she were surrendering. "Nice trick, by the way." She commented on the now lowering eyebrow.  
  
Willow smiled, pleased with herself. "Thanks! Xander almost pulled a muscele trying to do it this afternoon."  
  
The pair of girls started to slowly make their way back toward the Library. "Speaking of Xander, what's up with the two of you?" Buffy asked Willow. "You guys don't seem to be your usually chummy selves."  
  
Willow looked down at the floor and blushed slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Oh don't give me that!" The Slayer said. "You two are usually inseparable! Now you guys seem to be uncomfortable just to be in the same time-zone for more then a few minutes. Like I said before, what's up with you two?"  
  
Willow, still looking at the ground, shrugged. "I don't know. This last week, Xander seemed to try and avoid me." She answered. "We've still been hanging out at lunch, but it's not the same as before.."  
  
Buffy thought for a moment. "You say that you've noticed the new weirdness of Xander during the past week?"  
  
Willow nodded.  
  
"So, basically, he's been acting wiggy since the trip to the Cemetery." Buffy said, looking directly at her friend.  
  
Willow looked up at Buffy, slightly shocked. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Oh come on!" the Slayer exclaimed. "Don't tell me that you didn't notice the way Xander was acting after the ride back to school!"  
  
Willow shook her head.  
  
"He could barely look at you!" Buffy said, laughter creeping into her voice.  
  
The red headed girl seemed totally lost. "Why?"  
  
Buffy looked at her friend, surprised. "You really have no clue!" It was Buffy's turn to shake her head. "Remember the ride home from the Cemetery? How you were forced to practically sit in Xander's lap?"  
  
Willow blushed again. "Yeah," she said timidly.  
  
The Slayer could barely contain her laughter. "Well, while you basically jumped out of the car and into the school, Xander was forced to..how shall I put this..rearrange his equipment?"  
  
Willow thought for a second, not getting what Buffy was telling her. Then her eyes widened. "You mean, he.." The young girl was utterly shocked.  
  
Buffy couldn't hold back the laughter any longer. "That's right, Xander gave you the biggest compliment a teenage boy can give a girl!" The Slayer was laughing so hard that she was holding her sides.  
  
Willow's face quickly matched her hair in color. "I thought that was his wallet." Willow said quietly, burying her face in her hands.  
  
"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Will." Buffy said as she finally got her laughter under control. "I just don't think that Xander has ever thought about you that way before."  
  
Willow looked slightly crestfallen at Buffy's words. "But he's with Cordelia now."  
  
"Yeah, and your with Oz. So?" Buffy told her friend. "It's not like he did it on purpose. He'll be back to his normal Xanderness when he realizes that."  
  
Willow didn't say anything as she walked down the hallway. Buffy looked at her friend, slightly worried about her reaction. I thought she was over Xander, she thought to herself. Maybe things with Oz aren't going as well as I thought. "So, where's Oz? I haven't seen him around the past few days," she asked.  
  
The red-haired girl seemed to snap out of whatever she had been thinking about. "Oh, him and the band have been practicing a lot this week." She answered distractedly. "They have a gig all this weekend."  
  
"When does he leave?" The Slayer asked as they came up to the Library doors. "Is he coming with us to see 'Our Lady Peace' at The Bronze tonight?"  
  
Willow shook her head. "No, but he said he'd stop by the Library before he left."  
  
"Oh, that's too bad." Buffy said as she pushed the door open and the girls walked into the Library. It was only a split second after the words passed her lips, that the Slayer saw Eddie pointing a gun directly at them. 


	11. Chapter 10

Giles listened as Sidney apologized for the third time. "I really am sorry, Rupert. I should have realized that Eddie might have tried something like this." The former Watcher kept glancing at the Library floor as he talked. "I should have known that he would provoke a fight."  
  
Giles put up a hand to stop his friend. "Now, Sidney, I don't hold you responsible for what happened, and there is no need for you to apologize."  
  
Sidney looked past his friend, shook his head and then returned attention to the Watcher. "Yes there is. I shouldn't have let Eddie go off by himself. I knew he would get into some kind of trouble, I just never thought he would this," Sidney waved his hands toward the disheveled Library.  
  
"Sidney, please, we have more important things to discuss then Eddie's sick sense of humor," Giles said as he looked over at Eddie, who had regained consciousness and was now in deep discussion with Xander. The male Slayer seemed to be showing Xander something that Giles couldn't see.  
  
Sidney smiled slightly and nodded. "You're right." Then his smile got bigger, "For the first time in awhile Rupert, you're right."  
  
Giles raised his eyebrows in amusement. "When was the last time I was wrong?" he asked.  
  
"May 14, 1976. You tried to convince me that a vampire couldn't be killed a bullet," Sidney answered.  
  
Giles stood straighter. "I still say they can't."  
  
"I believe that Eddie would have a different opinion," Sidney said as he nodded toward the two boys sitting outside the office. "To quote Eddie, ' You put enough bullets into anything, that thing ain't going to get up,' end quote."  
  
Both men turned to observe as Eddie demonstrated the proper way to hold a Model-27 Glock to a watching Xander. "Did he have that gun since he entered the Library?" Giles asked as Eddie proceeded to show Xander his quick draw.  
  
Sidney nodded. "Yes, he did."  
  
Giles didn't respond immediately. He continued to watch as Eddie demonstrated to Xander, various ways to pull a gun free from its holster. He could have killed Buffy, Giles suddenly realized. That thought made him look at the boy more closely. At first glance, Eddie looked pretty much like most teenage boys. But past his confident smile, through his dark hair, Giles felt something beneath the surface that made the hairs on the back of his neck and arms quiver. The feeling made Giles think of a kind of black sun that needed to release its dark energy or explode violently. It fed of Eddie's emotions. Anger, sadness, despair: all theses feelings were the fuel that kept it burning. Giles took an involuntary step back as he figured out what it was. "Giles?" Sidney asked behind him. "Eddie wouldn't have used the gun on Buffy, if that's what you're thinking.."  
  
Giles turned to face his old friend, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. "Why did you bring a Necromancer to Sunnydale?" he asked as he looked up. "We have enough problems with the Hellmouth as it is, we don't need people who sell their souls for black magic here as well."  
  
  
  
"Now hold on a moment Rupert. Eddie didn't sell his soul to for anything!" Sidney said, a red flush of anger entering his face.  
  
The Watcher's face darkened with anger of it own. "But you don't deny that the boy is a Necromancer. You know almost better then anyone what they have to do to become one!"  
  
"You're right! I, better then anyone, know what Necromancers have to do to get their powers." The former Watcher replied heatedly. "But I tell you that Eddie hasn't sold his soul for his powers. He was born with them!"  
  
Giles stared at Sidney, stunned. "Y-you mean that boy is a natural Necromancer?"  
  
"That's right. As far as I can tell, Eddie is a natural Necromancer." Sidney's voice was now back to its normal pitch.  
  
Giles paused to look at Eddie before replying. "You realize how rare natural Necromancers are." Giles said it as a statement, not a question.  
  
Sidney nodded. "There have been, what, perhaps 20 natural Necromancers in the last 1000 years? Now you realize why I have taken him under my wing."  
  
Giles leaned against his desk. "Yes, quite right," he murmured, a dozen thoughts racing through his head. "Has he reached his full potential yet?" he finally asked.  
  
"No, not yet," the light-haired man replied." But he has been making incredible progress. These past few months have been the most productive. Eddie managed to take break the control of a Reanimator's hold on 10 zombies for about 15 minutes, long enough so that he could destroy them." As he said this he walked over to the window that looked out into the Library, his voice getting quieter with each step.  
  
"Really?" the Watcher said. "That's quite impressive. He should be of tremendous help in this situation. The research that I've done so far informed me that zombies could only be destroyed by fire. I've been hesitant about letting Buffy go around setting fire to things that can run away, but if Eddie can take control of them.." When Giles realized that he didn't have his friend's full attention, he got off the desk and walked over to him. "What is it?"  
  
Sidney stared out the window and into the Library, a puzzled look on his face. "Giles, why is your Slayer throwing books at Eddie?"  
  
  
  
.-----.-----.  
  
  
  
"You stole a rocket launcher from an army base! Excellent!" Eddie exclaimed.  
  
Xander shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, all of humanity was in danger, and so you know."  
  
Eddie laughed. "Very cool. I once had to hunt down a coven of witches in Northern Russia who had taken an army base as their headquarters. They had cast a spell on the base that caused the soldiers to be their slaves. So there I am, crawling through the dark, trying to keep the soldiers from shooting me and the witches from turning me into a frog or something." The male Slayer told Xander, who had picked up the unloaded Glock and was feeling its weight for the 5th time. "It was intense!"  
  
Xander looked over at Eddie, smiling. "Yeah? What did you do?"  
  
This time it was Eddie that shrugged. "Oh, I had Sid cause a distraction by blowing up a few trucks. All the guards went running over to chase him, I got in took care of business and got out."  
  
"What do you mean, 'took care of business'?" Xander asked as he pretended to shoot at a bookcase.  
  
"Well, I set fire to the barracks that the coven was hauled up in, and then shot them as they came out." Eddie replied as he looked over at Sidney and Giles through the office window. They seemed to be arguing.  
  
"You just shot them? Just like that?" Xander asked, his voice a little strained.  
  
Eddie turned back to Xander, who was looking at him but still aiming the Glock at the bookcase. "Yeah, just like that. You know, you're holding the gun wrong."  
  
Xander looked at the gun that he was holding with both hands, his arms fully extenend. "How?"  
  
The young Necromancer got up from his seat and took the handgun away from Xander. "The way you're holding it may be good for target practice, but it's no good when some dead guy is running straight at you, trying to rip your head off."  
  
Eddie assumed the posture that Xander had taken. "When you're like this, you're gonna have a hell of a time turning around to get at anything behind you. Plus, when you lock your both your arms the way you did and wrap both hands around handle, the kick from the gun is going to throw your aim off for the next shot." Eddie mimicked trying to turn around and take shot with the gun, his arms moving up as he pretended to shoot the gun.  
  
"Really? How do you hold it?" Xander asked, very interested.  
  
  
  
Eddie moved his left hand to the butt of the handgun, while his right was wrapped around the handle. "You see how my left arm is slightly bent? That way I can steady the gun quickly after a shoot, without messing up my aim too bad." He mimed the kick of the gun, his arms moving back instead of up." Plus, if there's some iggdy-ook coming up behind me at the same time." He dropped his left hand and brought his hand around, twisting his body sidewise. "This also makes you a smaller target."  
  
Xander had watched the demonstration with interest. "Wow, you really know your stuff."  
  
Eddie shrugged as he placed the unloaded gun into the holster on his back. "Learned most of it while on the job." He quickly drew the gun from its holster and aimed it at the main doors with one hand. "Sid taught me the same posture that you were doing. I just learned that it's impractical in real life."  
  
Eddie kept doing his quick draw as he watched the 2 older men in the office. It seemed to youth that they had finished whatever brief argument they had had, and were now talking normally. They were probably arguing about me, Eddie thought as he turned away from the window.only to see Buffy and Willow enter the Library.  
  
As soon as she saw the gun pointed at them, Buffy pushed Willow out of harms way and onto the floor. She quickly jumped over the reception desk and whipped a hard cover edition of Homer's The Odessy at Eddie's head. Eddie lowered his gun and moved sidewise to avoid the flying epic. Next, Buffy threw a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo that hit the male Slayer on the bridge of his nose. "Owww!" Eddie exclaimed after the airborne classic hit him.  
  
While Eddie was cradling his nose, Buffy leaped over the desk and pounced on him, knocking them both to the floor. "Buffy! What do you think your doing?" Giles said as he and Sidney came running out of his office.  
  
"Uh, hitting the bad man?" she said as she saw the serious look on her Watchers face.  
  
"Get off him this instant!" Giles said as he looked down at her.  
  
Buffy looked down at Eddie, who was still holding his noes. He smiled.  
  
"Before you start on the lectures, he was pointing a gun at me and Willow when we came in." The Slayer said as she got off the Necromancer. "Ask Willow!"  
  
"It's true," Willow put in from where Xander was helping her up off the floor. "He was pointing a gun at us. It's over there under the table," she said pointing.  
  
Buffy quickly picked up the gun from where it had fallen. "See! Like I said, gun!"  
  
"It's unloaded," Eddie said as he pulled himself up with help from the table. "Ask Xander."  
  
"It's true," Xander said as he and Willow walked over to the group. "It was unloaded. The bullets are on the table," he said pointing.  
  
Eddie calmly picked up the bullets. "See? Unloaded."  
  
Giles walked over to both young people and took their respective evidence and inspected them. "Well, you're both apparently correct. But, it doesn't excuse either of you." He said finally. "You," he said turning to Eddie, "You should not have brought a gun into library in the first place, let alone started pointing it around at people." Now he turned to Buffy. "And you. You have to learn not jump into things without thinking."  
  
Both Buffy and Eddie muttered "Whatever," under their breaths. They looked over at each other in surprise.  
  
"Ah, excuse me," Sidney put in before Giles could reprimand them further. "But I don't think that we have been formally introduced. I'm Sidney Benson, and this," he said indicating his companion, "is Eddie Richmond. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." When Eddie didn't say anything, Sidney cleared his throat. "Isn't Eddie?"  
  
Eddie, who was busy rubbing the bridge of his nose, looked up. "Oh, yeah! It's always a pleasure to almost have my nose broken twice before the sun goes down." He said sarcastically. "Nice to meet all of you."  
  
A silence filled the Library as everyone just exchanged looks to one another. "Ah-hem." Giles said finally to Sidney. "Have the 2 of you found a place to stay yet?"  
  
"Um, no, not yet," Sidney answered, relived that the silence had ended. "Actually, I was hoping that you might recommend a place."  
  
Giles thought for a moment. "Well, if you don't mind sleeping on cots, I'd happy to have you stay with me."  
  
Sidney turned to his protégé for his opinion. Eddie shrugged. "I don't care, I'll be spending most of the nights hunting anywise."  
  
"Great, then it's settled." Giles said as he reached into his coat pocket, removing a set of keys. "Here is the key to my flat. I still have some work to do here, but Buffy and I can meet you after school and we can discuss a strategy." Giles removed a key from ring and handed it to Sidney.  
  
Buffy raised her hand in protest. "Hello? Plans here! 'Our Lady Peace' is at the Bronze tonight! I cleared this with you, like last month!"  
  
The Watcher's eyebrows lowered in disapproval. "Buffy, I think that this is a little more important then some concert that you won't ever remember a week from now."  
  
"Let her go," Eddie said before Buffy could protest again. "I'll go hunting by myself. I don't like working with a partner anywise."  
  
Now it was Sidney's turn to speak. "I don't think I want you out there alone. You don't know the town. You could get lost, or ambushed by zombies. Or vampires for that matter. This is the Hellmouth remember."  
  
"Hey! I got an idea!" Willow announced, just as both Buffy and Eddie were about to speak. "Why doesn't Eddie come to the Bronze with us?" She suggested. "Then after, they could, you know, go do the hunt/patrol thing?" The both pairs of Slayers and Watchers looked at her. "It was just an idea." She said quietly.  
  
"And a good one too!" Xander put in. "That way, everyone is equally happy." The boy saw the looks on Giles, Sidney, Buffy and Eddie's faces. "Or unhappy!" he rephrased.  
  
The 2 Watchers turned around and discussed the matter between themselves for a few minuets. Finally they turned back to group. "Ok," Giles started. "Buffy, you can go to the Bronze, only if you and Eddie patrol afterwards."  
  
"Eddie, you can only go hunting if Buffy accompanies you." Sidney finished.  
  
Both Slayers were silent a moment. "Fine," Eddie said first. "I'll go with them to concert, then we hunt."  
  
Buffy looked over at Willow and Xander. She really wanted to go with them, but the thought of Eddie coming too, made her pause before answering. I'll have to go patrol with him anywise, she thought. I might as well get to see 'Our Lady Peace' too. Plus, I don't want to leave Willow Oz-less with Xander and Cordelia, especially when things aren't in the comfort zone with Will and Xander. "Fine, we go to the Bronze, then we patrol."  
  
Both Sidney and Giles nodded. "Fine then it's settled." Giles said.  
  
Silence returned as no one said anything. "So, I guess we'll let you get back to work." Sidney said. "We have a lot of equipment to unload."  
  
"Yes," Giles replied. "Let me just write down the directions to my place." The Watchers walked over to the reception desk.  
  
"Oh, I should probably give you directions to the Bronze, shouldn't I?" Willow said. She wandered over to her binder and scribbled something down on a sheet of paper. "The 'Our Lady Peace' starts playing at 7:30." She said as she handed him the sheet of paper. "Just look for us when you get there."  
  
"Thanks," the Necromancer said as he accepted the paper and stuffed it into his coat pocket.  
  
"Eddie!" Sidney called from the doorway, "Let's go!"  
  
"Hold on!" Eddie called back. "You know, Buffy," he said as he reloaded his gun and slipped it into its back holster, " The next time you get the urge to jump on top of me, you don't have to hit me with a book, just ask nicely!" With that he turned and raced after Sidney who had already left.  
  
After he had gone, Buffy turned to Willow, a look of expectation on her face. "It seemed like a good idea at the time!" the red-haired girl said defensively.  
  
Buffy raised an eyebrow and walked out of the Library. "Hey!" Xander exclaimed. "How come everyone can do that but me?" 


	12. Chapter 11

God, these things stink, Maria du Maurier thought as a zombie walked past her toward its master. The zombie carried a large crate in its arms, not even straining under the heavy weight. They make great labor, though.  
  
The zombies' master stood in front of a large concrete altar, black, unlit candles surrounded him in a circle. The voodoo masters' name was Charles Dumas Cristo, and was quite the sight to behold. Standing at 6'1, his muscular frame was still visible underneath the dark blue and red robe he wore. His long black hair was tied back, away from his face. His skin was a rich coffee with cream brown and seemed to be utterly smooth. His eyebrows shaved off, his face seemed to be completely flawless. The voodoo masters' lips were thin and were constantly smirking. His eyes seemed to glow a deep green in the dim light as they focused on the various goingons in the large cavern. At the moment, those eyes were concentrated on an old piece of parchment. Maria cleared her throat to get their attention. The bokor looked up from his readings and turned to face his assistant. "Yes?" His voice was very deep, but suprisingly quiet.  
  
Maria stared at the voodoo master with hard eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked with annoyance.  
  
"Preparing for tonight," he answered calmly.  
  
The woman's' brow frowned in irritation. "Well, you better prepare for the shipment that's on its way." Her voice was echoed off the walls the cavern. "It's going to be here in 5 days and there's still a shit load of work to do."  
  
Charles gave her a wistful smile. "I am well aware of our timetable, Maria. But my schedule is still paramount." His mouth turned down at on the last words.  
  
"Yeah well, I'm just saying, is all" she answered back sullenly.  
  
The voodoo master was quiet for a few moments. "Alright. Take 5 of my servants and start the preliminary work on the meat packing plant," he said finally.  
  
Maria looked at him in surprise. He's not one to change his plans on the spur of the moment. She waved her hands toward the altar. "What about this?"  
  
"I wasn't finished." Charles said as turned away from her and headed back to the altar. "After you are done at the plant, I want you to bring me a boy, under 20 years old. You will not kill him or hurt him in anyway. When you have him, put this into his mouth and bring him back here." He handed her a green piece of skin. "This will incapacitate him and start the process that I need for the ritual."  
  
The apprentice took the piece of skin in her gloved hand. "What is it?" she asked sniffing it.  
  
"It is the skin of the bogar frog found in the rainforests of Brazil." Charles picked up the parchment he had been reading earlier and sat down cross-legged infront of the alter. "It is also an incredibly potent poison and hallucinogen. So I advise you not to take your gloves off while touching it. And don't sniff it!"  
  
Maria pulled the frog skin away from her nose as if it had tried to bite her. "A hallucinogen? Maybe there's a market for it?" she said as she inspected it closely.  
  
The bokor didn't even lift his eyes from his reading as he answered. "I highly doubt it. A piece any larger then that would cause the ingester to fall into a coma and die within an hour."  
  
Maria looked at the sliver in her hand with some respect before placing it in the rubber lined pocket in her vest. "Anything else you want me to do?" she asked as she walked over to a footlocker and removed the lock.  
  
"Yes," Charles replied from the altar. "Try and stay off the streets as much as possible."  
  
"Why?" Maria asked as she tied a colorful bracelet to her upper right arm.  
  
"A number of reasons." The voodoo master said as he finally raised his eyes from the parchment "Most obvious is that we don't want the police of this town becoming aware of presence until the proper bribes have been given. Second, Sunnydale is filled with vampires who don't like zombies or anyone who associates with them. Finally there is the small matter of the Slayer." Charles looked on as Maria began attaching her throwing knives to her vest. "If any of these groups find you and your entourage on the open streets at this point, our timetable will be severely compromised."  
  
"Well," Maria said as she rummaged through the footlocker for her final accessory. "If anyone tries to stop me from doing what I was hired to do, they're going to be in for a world of hurt." She brought out a rather large sub-machine gun out of the locker and hung it on her shoulder. "Police, vampires or some little girl, it don't matter."  
  
"I'm sure they will," Charles commented as he returned to his reading. "Just don't forget what your job is and who you work for. It would be upsetting that our plans fall to ruins because you got trigger-happy."  
  
Maria glared at him as she put on her coat. "I know who I work for!" she growled at him. "It might do you some good to remember who you work for!" With that she turned around, selected 5 zombies and stormed out of the cavern.  
  
Charles Dumas Cristo watched as Maria du Maurier left the cavern then returned to the parchment. "Oh, I know exactly who I work for," he said quietly to himself. "Exactly who I work for." He smiled as he continued to read.  
  
.-----.-----.  
  
  
  
"Eddie, please get your feet of the coffee table," Sidney said from the kitchen. "This isn't our home. We are guests here."  
  
"Yeah, don't I know it." Eddie shouted from the living room. "What time are you supposed to meet Giles at the Library?"  
  
Sidney came out of the kitchen with two cups of coffee. "At around six. He mentioned a Staff meeting after school."  
  
"You taking the car or do you want me to drive you?" the young man asked as he sipped his coffee.  
  
Sidney blew on his coffee before answering. "Neither. I'm taking a taxi. I don't want to leave you without the car while you and Buffy are hunting tonight. Plus," the former Watcher said, as he looked the boy over. "I don't want you to be late because you didn't have enough time to change and shower."  
  
Eddie looked down at the black jeans and T-shirt he was wearing. "I don't need a shower and what's wrong with the way I'm dressed?" He sounded slightly offended.  
  
"First off, you definitely do need a shower! Eddie you have been wearing the same pants and shirt for 2 days now." Sidney said over his cup.  
  
"So! I'm hunting tonight. These are my hunting clothes!" the young necromancer replied defensively.  
  
"You are always complaing that you never get to do normal things, that you are always to busy working. Now you have the opportunity to spend time with people your own age, doing something that normal teenagers do." Sidney said gently. "Take advantage of it, because I don't know when you will have the opportunity again."  
  
Eddie stared into his coffee, not saying anything for awhile. "What am I supposed to do with them?" he asked quietly after a few minutes. "I haven't done this kind of thing in a long time, I think I forgot how to just hang."  
  
Sidney looked at his protégé with compassion. I've forgotten how much he has suffered in his short life. "These are good people, Eddie." He said instead. "They will."  
  
"What accept me?" Eddie cut him off. "Become my friends? Come on Sid, we both know that after what happened today, these guys aren't going to make me their bestus friend in the whole world."  
  
"Well after today, you can't really blame them, can you?" the older man said with some annoyance. "You didn't exactly ingrecate yourself by attacking Buffy and waving a gun around."  
  
"Oh come on! You know I was kidding around, Sid!" the boy exclaimed. "I wasn't going to hurt anyone, I was just fooling around!"  
  
"I know that, and you know that, but they didn't. How could they?" Sidney replied. "They don't know you, or me for that matter. If the roles had been reversed, how would you feel?"  
  
"Yeah, I know." Eddie said as he slumped in his seat. "I'm an asshole! It's who I am!"  
  
"Eddie, you are not an 'asshole'. You're just different from others. You have responsibilities that people your age aren't supposed to shoulder." Sidney told him.  
  
Eddie rolled his eyes. "Sure try telling that to Buffy or your friend, Giles."  
  
"I know Giles will understand," the former Watcher said confidently. "He knows what it's like to train a Slayer and the.troubles involved. Also, I think Buffy will understand if you explain yourself and apologize to her. She is, after all, the Slayer."  
  
Eddie remained silent as he thought the matter over. "Ok, I'll give it a try." He said finally. "I'll tell Buffy that I'm sorry about this afternoon and see if we can start fresh."  
  
Sidney smiled and slapped the boy on the back with affection. "That's the Eddie I know. Never one to give up a challenge."  
  
"Anyways, Xander seemed like a decent guy." Eddie replied, ignoring his friends' smile. "We got along ok, so I'll have some one to talk to tonight if I get the cold shoulder from the others."  
  
"Finish your coffee, and go take a shower." Sidney said as he got up off the couch. "I'll see what Rupert has in the fridge, and make you something to eat before I leave.  
  
Eddie downed his coffee in one gulp and headed upstairs toward the bathroom. He mumbled about not needing to shower as he jogged up the stairs. Sidney shook his head and smiled as he walked toward the kitchen.  
  
  
  
.-----.-----.  
  
Buffys' ribs had finally stop bothering her as she left her final class for the day. Damn guy hits hard, she thought as she walked toward the Library.  
  
When she entered the Library, she was not surprised to see Willow, Xander and Cordelia sitting around the table, talking about what happened earlier and about the concert at the Bronze tonight. "So, this guy just waving a gun around?" Cordelia asked Willow. "What's his problem?"  
  
Willow shrugged. "I don't know. When we walked in, he was pointing a gun at us." The red-haired girl answered.  
  
"Then Buffy pushes Willow out of the way, and hits him with a book and tackles him." Xander finished. "Reminded me of an episode of Xena.Hey Buffy!" he said as he saw the Slayer standing inside the doorway.  
  
The two girls looked over and saw Buffy walking toward them. "H-hi Buffy." Willow said as her face turned slightly red at being caught gossiping about her friend. "How was Math?"  
  
"Forget class!" Cordelia said before Buffy could form a reply. "What's the deal with this guy Slayer? What is he, number three?"  
  
This time it was Giles who cut in. "Eddie is not a Slayer. Well not in the traditional sense." The Watcher said as he came out of his office. "Sidney just calls him that because it is what he does. Slaying that is."  
  
"So, he's a vampire slayer too then?" Cordelia asked, confused slightly by Giles attempt at an answer.  
  
Giles eyebrows came down in a slight frown as he thought. "The way Sidney described in, I believe that Eddie does not confine himself simply to vampires."  
  
"So he's like your all purpose Slayer, right?" Willow asked.  
  
"Er, right." Giles answered.  
  
Buffy had watched this exchange in silence. She was about to throw her own two cents into the conversation, when Oz walked in. "Oz!" Willow practically squealed.  
  
Oz gave Willow a hug and looked around at the Library, which, despite Giles best effort, still looked a little ragged. "What happened here?" he asked as he noticed the hastily reshelved books. "Training get a little too fun?"  
  
The group looked to Buffy for her impute. Before she could explain to Oz what happened, Giles quietly said, "Not quite." That seemed to let loose a wave of explanations from Willow and Xander, and an equal number of questions from Cordelia. Oz stepped back from the onslaught of sound and put his hands up in mock surrender.  
  
"You know, this would all make a lot more sense if I could, like, understand." Oz said as the threesome quieted down. Willow looked sheepish, Xander looked like he was going to say something smart and Cordelia looked irritated that no one had answered any of her questions.  
  
"Ahem. Can I say something?" Buffy interjected. When no one answered right away, she turned to Oz. "It's like this: Giles called some old friend of his for advice on how to kill these zombies. This old friend decided to come to Sunnydale and brought another Slayer with him. A guy Slayer. But not a Slayer." Buffy paused to take a breath and went on. "Anyways, this 'Slayer' was going through Giles' files. We fought. Place got messed up. The end."  
  
Everyone looked at the Slayer with the same look of surprise on his or her faces. Oz nodded. "Ok." He said simply and turned to Willow. "Well our gig got squashed. The guy who was throwing the party got arrested or something, and the party got canceled."  
  
Willow patted her boyfriend on the shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry Oz." Then her face brightened. "But, on the upside, that means you can come to the Bronze with us right?"  
  
Oz nodded again and smiled. "Yeah, I hear that 'Our Lady Peace' very decent live."  
  
As Willow let out an "Yay!" and hugged Oz, Giles motioned for Buffy to come into his office.  
  
Buffy entered the office and plopped herself on top of Giles desk. "What's up?"  
  
Giles paused for a second before speaking. "I-I wanted to talk to you about Eddie."  
  
"So talk." The Slayer said simply.  
  
"Well first, I want you to know that I did not call Sidney requesting that he bring Eddie. I had no idea that either of them were coming to Sunnydale." Giles paused again. "I hope that you believe that I would have told you, had I known."  
  
Buffy looked up at her Watcher for a moment, then sighed. "I know you would have, Giles." She said finally. "I'm sorry that I overreacted to it, but."  
  
Giles put up a hand to stop her. "You do not need to apologize." The Watcher said gently. "Buffy, you saw a stranger going through files that you knew were my private ones. I know you didn't mean to start a fight and that you were only defending yourself." A brief look of relief crossed Buffy's face. "Anyways," Giles said as he turned to pick up a rather dust book, "I believe that Eddie was putting you some type of test."  
  
"A test? Is that what you call it?" Buffy asked, anger entering her voice. "He tried to kill me!"  
  
"I don't think he was trying to kill you." Giles told the young Slayer. "If he was, I think he would have drawn his gun."  
  
"He had that while we were fighting?" Giles nodded. "I was wondering where he got that from," Buffy said more to herself then to her Watcher.  
  
"That's why I believe that he was testing you. That and the fact that he forced you to fire the crossbow at him, when he knew that it wouldn't cause him any harm." The Watcher looked at Buffy sideways. "I believe that he wanted to see if you had 'the guts' to take his life."  
  
Buffy simply stared at the older man, think over what she had just heard. Why would he do that? What would make him attack me, just to see if I would kill him? Buffy asked herself silently. "But that is not the main reason I wanted to talk to you about." Giles said invading her thoughts.  
  
"Oh." The Slayer asked as she regained her composure. "What is?"  
  
Giles looked down at the book he was holding, took his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well, it's something Sidney told me about Eddie." When Buffy didn't say anything, he went on. "Well, according to Sidney, Eddie is a natural Necromancer."  
  
Buffy looked at the Watcher with confusion. "What's that?"  
  
Giles sat down beside Buffy with the old book in his hands. "Well, a Necromancer is a person sells his soul or part of his soul to a demon or sprit to gain power over the dead. Usually to gain access to the supernatural energy that is in the Ether." Giles looked over to see if Buffy was following what he was saying.  
  
"Ok, I'm with you so far." She told him slowly. "So Eddie sold his soul, right?"  
  
The Watcher shook his head. "No, Eddie is a natural Necromancer."  
  
"Which means.?  
  
"Which means that Eddie was born with access to the Ether. Much in the same way you were born with access to whatever gives the Slayer her powers."  
  
"Huh?" was the blond-haired girl's reply.  
  
"Ok, natural Necromancers are incredibly rare and incredibly powerful. According to the records that the Watchers Society have kept, there have been only 20 natural Necromancers in the past 1000 years!" The only response from Buffy was a quiet 'Wow'. "Eddie has enormous power at his finger tips. More then he probably realizes."  
  
"So, what you're telling me is that Eddie is some super powerful witch?" the Slayer asked.  
  
"Well, that would be a warlock since Eddie is a man, but no he is something all together different then a warlock." Giles responded. "I'm not sure what to compare him to. What I wanted to tell you is be careful around him."  
  
"Why?" Buffy asked. "He's on our side right?"  
  
"Er, yes. But if he can't control the powers at his disposal, he may be a sever danger to all around him. You especially."  
  
Buffy looked at Giles thoughtfully. "Well Sidney seemed fine around him, actually Eddie acted almost normal around him." She paused as she thought. "And why me especially?"  
  
"I believe Sidney has a calming influence over Eddie. Whether this is because he is a Reanimator or because they have known each other for as long as they have." Giles thought a moment. "Probably both. And as to why I believe that you are in the greatest danger from him, you will be working closely with Eddie, in dangerous situations that will be very stressful and emotional for the both of you. If anything will make him lose control, it may be that." The Watcher's face looked worried.  
  
"Hey!" Buffy punched Giles on the arm playfully. "I can handle Eddie. Don't worry!" She smiled. "And if he gets out of line again, I'll just shoot him with the crossbow again!"  
  
Giles looked up at the ceiling. Why do I bother? He looked down at the seventeen-year-old girl sitting beside him. Because I'm the only one who will he answered himself. "Just be careful."  
  
"Always am!" The Slayer said as she hopped off the desk. "I'm a regular safety-girl."  
  
The Watcher managed to give her a skeptical look before there was a quiet knock on the door and Willow poked her head in. "Hi, sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to ask Buffy if she wanted to catch a ride home with Oz and me." The young hacker looked at her friend. "You know, so you can change?"  
  
Buffy looked at the older man. "If we're done." Giles nodded. "Then sure!" She turned and left the office with Willow. "See you tomorrow, Giles!"  
  
Giles watched as the group of teenagers left the Library, talking excitedly about the night ahead. 


	13. Chapter 12

Buffy was leaning against the sink in her kitchen, listening to her mother lecture her, yet again, on her schoolwork. "I mean, you spend all that time studying with Willow, and you still just seem to get by in your classes." Her mother went on. "Perhaps we should consider a professional tutor."  
  
"Mom!" Buffy said offended. "I don't need another tutor! Willow does like an amazing job!"  
  
Joyce put her coffee cup down in the sink and started to rinse it. "I'm not saying Willow isn't helping, but maybe you need someone who isn't your friend. Who isn't worried about being tough with you." She said as she finished rinsing the cup and put it up to dry. "Perhaps I can arrange something with a teacher at school."  
  
The Slayer rolled her eyes. "Mom, the teachers at school have better things to do then tutor me." Buffy stopped and thought it over for a second. "Well maybe they don't have better things to do, but I don't need another tutor!" she said finally, sticking her bottom lip out and doing her best little girl pout.  
  
Her mother looked at her from the other side of the kitchen where she was putting on her purse. "Buffy, I really don't want to argue about this right now. I've got a plane to catch." She turned to face her daughter, a look of acquiescence on her face. "Look, we'll talk about this when I get back from San Francisco. We'll work something out, Ok?"  
  
"Ok!" Buffy said, happy that she could claim a quasi-victory in the argument. "Have a good time! And remember!" she yelled as her mother began to walk out the front door. "Don't leave your heart in San Francisco!"  
  
Joyce stuck her tongue out at Buffy and then left. Buffy went to the window and watched as her mother jumped into a cab and drove off. Buffy resisted the urge to pull a "Home Alone" and scream in happiness. Instead, she walked joyfully into the kitchen prepared to make herself a large bowl of chocolate fudge ice cream. She stopped as she was removing the Ben & Jerry's from the freezer and remembered the last time she went out to slay on a stomach full of ice cream. "There was definitely an ickness factor afterward." she murmured to herself.  
  
Her ice cream hopes dashed, Buffy stomped angrily upstairs to her room. Her anger grew as she saw the dress she was going to wear to the Bronze tonight hanging in her closet. It was a short yellow sundress with spaghetti straps, which in Buffy's opinion looked amazing on her. Or would have, if I could wear it! She thought angrily. But nooo, I have to go on patrol with the Terminator! She gave the dress one last look before pushing it aside and looking for something more patrol worthy. She finally decided on a pair of black jeans, a white button-up shirt, and a black suede vest. The outfit was complete with a pair of black, knee-high boots. Buffy gave the ensemble an appraising look. "Slaying worthy, yet fashionable." She remarked with a firm nod.  
  
Stretching, Buffy felt the muscles in her shoulders ache slightly from her fight with Eddie. Deciding that the best remedy for this was a long, hot shower, Buffy headed toward the bathroom. Turning on the water, she began to remove her clothing. She paused after she had taken off her shirt. Faint bruises could be seen on stomach and tops of her shoulders. They were fading quickly, but they were still there, reminding her of the strength of Eddie's fists. If he was testing me, then he was probably holding back, she thought as she lightly fingered one of the bruises on her stomach. I should be glad that he didn't uses all his strength. If he did, I'd probably be covered with bruises. Putting Eddie and that afternoon's excitement out of her mind, Buffy finished taking the rest of her clothes off and climbed into the comforting warmth of the shower. She stayed under the water for, what to her seemed an eternity, letting the hot water untie the knots in her back and wash away the pain in her shoulders and ribs.  
  
When she was done, she quickly dried herself off and went back to her room to change. Buffy took her time getting dressed and fixing her hair. When she was finally finished, she looked at herself in the mirror to inspect the complete product. "Not bad, if I do say so myself." Buffy commented to her reflection with a smile. "And I do say so!"  
  
The Slayer checked her watch and saw that it was almost 6:30. She had half an hour before she was supposed to meet up with the others at the Bronze. Looking around the room for something to occupy her time, Buffy found that there was very little to do in her room. A brief notion of doing some homework crossed her mind. "Yeah right," she said as the thought was forgotten. When nothing else came to mind, she decided to call Willow.  
  
As she dialed her friends phone number, she wondered if she could convince Willow talk to Xander about what was bothering him.  
  
  
  
.-----.-----.  
  
  
  
As Willow and Xander's lips touched for the first time, there was a knock on the front door. Both teenagers stopped and looked at each other for a moment, dazed. The knock was repeated and followed by a "Willow?" The voice belonged to Oz.  
  
A look of surprise passed Willow's face, which was quickly replaced by one of panic. "Oh my God! It's Oz!"  
  
Xander practically jumped backward off the couch, retreating across the room. He was visibly sweating and his hands were shaking. "What do we do?" he asked in a whisper.  
  
Before Willow could answer, the phone on the other side of the room started to ring. Both Willow and Xander turned to look at the phone. Oz knocked on the door again. "Willow, are you in there?" He had raised his voice.  
  
Xander felt as if his heart would burst as he switched from looking at the door and the still ringing phone. Oh Jesus! began to repeat though his mind as panic racked his body. "What are we going to do?" he asked Willow a second time.  
  
Willow felt like a deer in the caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. "You.you get the phone! I'll get the door!" she blurted out.  
  
"No! You get the phone, I'll get the door!" With that Xander jumped over the couch and ran to the door.  
  
Willow watched as Xander raced across her living room toward the door before running over to the phone and picked it up in mid ring. "Help," she said into the receiver. "I mean hello?"  
  
"Willow?" Buffy's voice answered her. "Are you ok? What's wrong?"  
  
"Buffy!" Willow said as she tried to look at the front door. "W-wrong? Nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?" She tried her best to sound calm.  
  
"Well I thought you said, "Help" when you picked up the phone." Buffy's worried voice said. "Are you sure you're Ok?"  
  
Willow couldn't see anything but Xander's back at the door. "Yeah, Buffy everything's super! What's up?" she said as she strained to here what Oz and Xander were talking about.  
  
There was a moment of silence before Buffy answered her. "Well, there are two reasons I called." The Slayer said finally. "First is, I was wondering if you and Oz could pick me up on your way to the Bronze."  
  
Willow watched as Xander moved aside to let Oz in. "Yeah sure. Pick you up. The Bronze." She said into the phone.  
  
"The second thing was, well I was thinking that you should talk to Xander about.well you know! Tell him everything is cool between the two of you." Buffy's voice said into Willow's ear.  
  
Willow saw Xander wave Oz toward where she was standing before he left without looking back, closing the front door behind him. "Yeah sure. Talk to Xander. We're cool."  
  
"WILLOW!!" Buffy shouted into the phone, snapping her friend out of her absent mindedness. "Have you been listening to me?"  
  
Willow practically jumped when Buffy voice shouted at her through the phone. "Sorry Buffy, yeah I was listening." Oz was walking across the living room toward her, a worried look on his face. "Uh, Oz just got here, I gotta go. Well stop by to pick you up. Bye." Willow hung up the phone before Buffy could respond.  
  
"Hey, honey," Oz said as he stopped in front of his girlfriend, his worried look still on his face. "Are you Ok?"  
  
Willow tried to give Oz a cheerful smile. "Yeah, I'm fine! Couldn't be better!" she told her boyfriend in a high voice. She looked over at the front door. "What happened to Xander?"  
  
Oz turned to look at the door as well, a puzzled look briefly upon his face. "Well I'm not exactly sure." The sometime werewolf said in a voice that matched the look on his face. "He answered the door and started talking a mile a minute about how great it was to see me, and how he much he was looking forward to tonight. I asked him if he wanted to ride with us to the Bronze. He gave me this look as if I just asked if he were gay or something. He mumbled something about having something to do then left." Oz turned back to Willow. "It was definitely weird."  
  
Willow laughed a little too loudly. "Yeah, weird. Xander' s weird alright." She laughed again.  
  
That worried look came back to Oz's face. "Are you sure you're Ok?"  
  
Willow looked at Oz, her eyes giving him every ounce of honesty that she could. "Yes Oz, I'm fine." She attempted another smile.  
  
Oz looked at her skeptically, not believing her, but not wanting to push. "So, who were you on the phone with?" He said trying to change the subject/  
  
Willow practically collapsed with relief, mentally thanking Oz. He knows something's up, but he doesn't want to push me. "On the phone? That was Buffy, she wanted to ask if we could stop by her house and pick her up." She said, this the smile on her face wasn't forced.  
  
Oz jingled the keys to his van. "No problem. Was that it?"  
  
Willow remembered Buffy pleading her to talk with Xander. To tell him that everything was cool between the two of them. Buffy didn't know that things between Willow and Xander weren't cool. In fact, things were the exact opposite of cool. They were hot. Willow looked deep into Oz's eyes, giving him the biggest smile she could muster under the circumstances. "Yep! That's it! All she wanted was a lift!" Then she took Oz's hand and walked out of the house. 


	14. Chapter 13

Buffy was leaning against the sink in her kitchen, listening to her mother lecture her, yet again, on her schoolwork. "I mean, you spend all that time studying with Willow, and you still just seem to get by in your classes." Her mother went on. "Perhaps we should consider a professional tutor."  
  
"Mom!" Buffy said offended. "I don't need another tutor! Willow does like an amazing job!"  
  
Joyce put her coffee cup down in the sink and started to rinse it. "I'm not saying Willow isn't helping, but maybe you need someone who isn't your friend. Who isn't worried about being tough with you." She said as she finished rinsing the cup and put it up to dry. "Perhaps I can arrange something with a teacher at school."  
  
The Slayer rolled her eyes. "Mom, the teachers at school have better things to do then tutor me." Buffy stopped and thought it over for a second. "Well maybe they don't have better things to do, but I don't need another tutor!" she said finally, sticking her bottom lip out and doing her best little girl pout.  
  
Her mother looked at her from the other side of the kitchen where she was putting on her purse. "Buffy, I really don't want to argue about this right now. I've got a plane to catch." She turned to face her daughter, a look of acquiescence on her face. "Look, we'll talk about this when I get back from San Francisco. We'll work something out, Ok?"  
  
"Ok!" Buffy said, happy that she could claim a quasi-victory in the argument. "Have a good time! And remember!" she yelled as her mother began to walk out the front door. "Don't leave your heart in San Francisco!"  
  
Joyce stuck her tongue out at Buffy and then left. Buffy went to the window and watched as her mother jumped into a cab and drove off. Buffy resisted the urge to pull a "Home Alone" and scream in happiness. Instead, she walked joyfully into the kitchen prepared to make herself a large bowl of chocolate fudge ice cream. She stopped as she was removing the Ben & Jerry's from the freezer and remembered the last time she went out to slay on a stomach full of ice cream. "There was definitely an ickness factor afterward." she murmured to herself.  
  
Her ice cream hopes dashed, Buffy stomped angrily upstairs to her room. Her anger grew as she saw the dress she was going to wear to the Bronze tonight hanging in her closet. It was a short yellow sundress with spaghetti straps, which in Buffy's opinion looked amazing on her. Or would have, if I could wear it! She thought angrily. But nooo, I have to go on patrol with the Terminator! She gave the dress one last look before pushing it aside and looking for something more patrol worthy. She finally decided on a pair of black jeans, a white button-up shirt, and a black suede vest. The outfit was complete with a pair of black, knee-high boots. Buffy gave the ensemble an appraising look. "Slaying worthy, yet fashionable." She remarked with a firm nod.  
  
Stretching, Buffy felt the muscles in her shoulders ache slightly from her fight with Eddie. Deciding that the best remedy for this was a long, hot shower, Buffy headed toward the bathroom. Turning on the water, she began to remove her clothing. She paused after she had taken off her shirt. Faint bruises could be seen on stomach and tops of her shoulders. They were fading quickly, but they were still there, reminding her of the strength of Eddie's fists. If he was testing me, then he was probably holding back, she thought as she lightly fingered one of the bruises on her stomach. I should be glad that he didn't uses all his strength. If he did, I'd probably be covered with bruises. Putting Eddie and that afternoon's excitement out of her mind, Buffy finished taking the rest of her clothes off and climbed into the comforting warmth of the shower. She stayed under the water for, what to her seemed an eternity, letting the hot water untie the knots in her back and wash away the pain in her shoulders and ribs.  
  
When she was done, she quickly dried herself off and went back to her room to change. Buffy took her time getting dressed and fixing her hair. When she was finally finished, she looked at herself in the mirror to inspect the complete product. "Not bad, if I do say so myself." Buffy commented to her reflection with a smile. "And I do say so!"  
  
The Slayer checked her watch and saw that it was almost 6:30. She had half an hour before she was supposed to meet up with the others at the Bronze. Looking around the room for something to occupy her time, Buffy found that there was very little to do in her room. A brief notion of doing some homework crossed her mind. "Yeah right," she said as the thought was forgotten. When nothing else came to mind, she decided to call Willow.  
  
As she dialed her friends phone number, she wondered if she could convince Willow talk to Xander about what was bothering him.  
  
  
  
.-----.-----.  
  
  
  
As Willow and Xander's lips touched for the first time, there was a knock on the front door. Both teenagers stopped and looked at each other for a moment, dazed. The knock was repeated and followed by a "Willow?" The voice belonged to Oz.  
  
A look of surprise passed Willow's face, which was quickly replaced by one of panic. "Oh my God! It's Oz!"  
  
Xander practically jumped backward off the couch, retreating across the room. He was visibly sweating and his hands were shaking. "What do we do?" he asked in a whisper.  
  
Before Willow could answer, the phone on the other side of the room started to ring. Both Willow and Xander turned to look at the phone. Oz knocked on the door again. "Willow, are you in there?" He had raised his voice.  
  
Xander felt as if his heart would burst as he switched from looking at the door and the still ringing phone. Oh Jesus! began to repeat though his mind as panic racked his body. "What are we going to do?" he asked Willow a second time.  
  
Willow felt like a deer in the caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. "You.you get the phone! I'll get the door!" she blurted out.  
  
"No! You get the phone, I'll get the door!" With that Xander jumped over the couch and ran to the door.  
  
Willow watched as Xander raced across her living room toward the door before running over to the phone and picked it up in mid ring. "Help," she said into the receiver. "I mean hello?"  
  
"Willow?" Buffy's voice answered her. "Are you ok? What's wrong?"  
  
"Buffy!" Willow said as she tried to look at the front door. "W-wrong? Nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?" She tried her best to sound calm.  
  
"Well I thought you said, "Help" when you picked up the phone." Buffy's worried voice said. "Are you sure you're Ok?"  
  
Willow couldn't see anything but Xander's back at the door. "Yeah, Buffy everything's super! What's up?" she said as she strained to here what Oz and Xander were talking about.  
  
There was a moment of silence before Buffy answered her. "Well, there are two reasons I called." The Slayer said finally. "First is, I was wondering if you and Oz could pick me up on your way to the Bronze."  
  
Willow watched as Xander moved aside to let Oz in. "Yeah sure. Pick you up. The Bronze." She said into the phone.  
  
"The second thing was, well I was thinking that you should talk to Xander about.well you know! Tell him everything is cool between the two of you." Buffy's voice said into Willow's ear.  
  
Willow saw Xander wave Oz toward where she was standing before he left without looking back, closing the front door behind him. "Yeah sure. Talk to Xander. We're cool."  
  
"WILLOW!!" Buffy shouted into the phone, snapping her friend out of her absent mindedness. "Have you been listening to me?"  
  
Willow practically jumped when Buffy voice shouted at her through the phone. "Sorry Buffy, yeah I was listening." Oz was walking across the living room toward her, a worried look on his face. "Uh, Oz just got here, I gotta go. Well stop by to pick you up. Bye." Willow hung up the phone before Buffy could respond.  
  
"Hey, honey," Oz said as he stopped in front of his girlfriend, his worried look still on his face. "Are you Ok?"  
  
Willow tried to give Oz a cheerful smile. "Yeah, I'm fine! Couldn't be better!" she told her boyfriend in a high voice. She looked over at the front door. "What happened to Xander?"  
  
Oz turned to look at the door as well, a puzzled look briefly upon his face. "Well I'm not exactly sure." The sometime werewolf said in a voice that matched the look on his face. "He answered the door and started talking a mile a minute about how great it was to see me, and how he much he was looking forward to tonight. I asked him if he wanted to ride with us to the Bronze. He gave me this look as if I just asked if he were gay or something. He mumbled something about having something to do then left." Oz turned back to Willow. "It was definitely weird."  
  
Willow laughed a little too loudly. "Yeah, weird. Xander' s weird alright." She laughed again.  
  
That worried look came back to Oz's face. "Are you sure you're Ok?"  
  
Willow looked at Oz, her eyes giving him every ounce of honesty that she could. "Yes Oz, I'm fine." She attempted another smile.  
  
Oz looked at her skeptically, not believing her, but not wanting to push. "So, who were you on the phone with?" He said trying to change the subject/  
  
Willow practically collapsed with relief, mentally thanking Oz. He knows something's up, but he doesn't want to push me. "On the phone? That was Buffy, she wanted to ask if we could stop by her house and pick her up." She said, this the smile on her face wasn't forced.  
  
Oz jingled the keys to his van. "No problem. Was that it?"  
  
Willow remembered Buffy pleading her to talk with Xander. To tell him that everything was cool between the two of them. Buffy didn't know that things between Willow and Xander weren't cool. In fact, things were the exact opposite of cool. They were hot. Willow looked deep into Oz's eyes, giving him the biggest smile she could muster under the circumstances. "Yep! That's it! All she wanted was a lift!" Then she took Oz's hand and walked out of the house. 


	15. Chapter 14

Sidney opened another book and began to leaf through it. He had been going through Giles' collection of occult books, for the better part of two hours, yet had found nothing in them that could help with their current situation. "You have only one book that focuses on voodoo, and it's full of bloody lies!" he yelled at the librarian from across the room, his frustration showing on his face. "How can you be so unprepared?"  
  
Giles poked his head out of his office, his face flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "Well I did not expect to have to worry about voodoo shamans on the Hellmouth." He replied tersely. "Voodoo and vampires don't usually get along very well."  
  
Sidney dismissed his friend's answer with a wave of his hand. "That's a poor excuse and you know it." The former Watcher raised his eyes so that he looked directly at Giles. "When we were at Oxford together, I tried to show you how ethnic magics were just as important as more traditional ones. I'd hope you would have changed your mind after Manchester, but apparently not."  
  
Giles face flushed again, this time in complete anger. "Now don't go bringing up Manchester! That was as much your fault, as it was mine." The Watcher came out of his office fully to face his accuser. "You didn't know they were Druids either!"  
  
Sidney rose from his chair, his hands gripping the sides of the table tightly. "Well at least I didn't think they were Wiccan!" The Reanimator's voice was laced with equal parts scorn and amusement. "I mean, Wiccan! Even first year candidates know that Wiccans don't do human sacrifice!"  
  
Both men stared at each other from across the room, letting their eyes finish the argument. Neither man knew how long the stare down lasted, but they realized it was over when they noticed that they were both laughing. The tension that had been building throughout the night had dissipated some. Giles walked over to the table and sat down in the chair next to his friend. Sidney sat back down in his own seat and chuckled. "I still can't believe you thought they were Wiccan, Rui," he said through a large smile.  
  
Giles smiled at the memory, still slightly embarrassed. "Well I was.we were young. It was our first training mission after all. We got out of it unscathed." His smiled widened. "Er.well mostly unscathed. And don't call me Rui!"  
  
"Fine, no 'Rui'. However, I wouldn't call me striped naked, chained to an altar, and almost sacrificed by a group of robed teenage druids, getting out 'unscathed' Sidney said with a sour look on his face  
  
Giles face took on a look of non-chalance. "Well if I remember correctly, you thought one of the members quite attractive. That is, before she tried to cut your throat."  
  
Sidney smiled wistfully at his own memories. "Yes, Amanda. She was.something." He replied faintly.  
  
"Insane?" Giles said with a grin.  
  
The Reanimator nodded without loosing his wistful look. Yes, but she was such made insane look sexy." His smile grew as he looked off into space. "Did I tell you about the ritual tattoo all the druids had? Amanda had hers on the inside of her right thigh.it was so small!"  
  
Giles gave his old friend a look of shock. "Sidney! She tried to kill you!" He paused a moment before another thought came to him. "When did you get a good look at her inner thigh?" the Librarian demanded.  
  
"Well, while you were off researching 'Wiccan human sacrifice practices', I was forced to do some.deep cover work?" Sidney gave his friend a look of perfect innocence. "Someone had to do it!"  
  
The Watcher sat stunned for a moment. "Wha-what were we discussing again?" he managed after taking a minute to settle his mind. When he saw that Sidney was ready with another witty rejoinder, he held up his hand. "I mean, what were we discussing at first? I faintly remember voodoo."  
  
Sidney looked at him blankly for a second, then snapped his fingers. "We were talking about your lack of material on ethnic magics in general, and voodoo magic in particular."  
  
Now it was Giles turn for a sour look. "Oh, yes, that." He exhaled loudly, took off his glasses and started to rub his eyes. "Well as I stated earlier, I never expected to encounter such magic here on the Hellmouth. I left most of those books back in England." Though there might be a few in the shipment that just arrived, he thought suddenly.  
  
Sidney smiled and shook his head in mock-disapproval. "Tsk, tsk, old man. Bad form. Very forgetful of you." He held up his hand before Giles could protest again. "I'm just having some fun with you, Rui." He smiled again. "Sorry, 'Rupert'! Anyway, I took the liberty of bringing a few volumes from home with me. So we should be able to muttle our way through."  
  
"Well then perhaps we should return to my apartment." Giles began.  
  
His friend shook his head again, this time meaning it. "No, that won't be necessary. I can leave message for Eddie on his cell phone and ask him to drop by after hunting tonight." After he mentioning his protégé, Sidney's face seem to become pinched with worry.  
  
"What's wrong, Sidney?" Giles said as he noticed the look on his friend's face.  
  
Sidney sighed and ran his hand through his dark black hair. "I'm just worried about Eddie."  
  
"Why?" Giles said rather quickly. What's wrong with Eddie? If I've sent Buff out there with him while he's unstable.Giles tried to push the thought from his mind.  
  
The Reanimator looked across the room toward the double doors of the library. "I'm worried about tonight. He's not used to the company of people his own age." He said in a quiet voice, almost as if he felt he was breaking a confidence. "For along time, I've been his only contact with the rest of the world. I'm not sure how he's going to handle being around so many people."  
  
Giles breathed a mental sigh of relief, a social outing. That's what he's worried about. "Well, surely he had friends when he was growing up." He said instead. "How long have you been training Eddie?" he asked as the thought occurred to him.  
  
"Eddie's been with me since he was fifteen. About three years now." Sidney's voice was thickening with emotion. "I found him playing a guitar for spare change in Central Park." Sidney turned to face his friend quickly. "Did you know that I had lived in New York for almost a year?" Giles shook his head. "Well I did. Dreadful city. Noisy, dirty, full of rude people. Reminded me of London."  
  
Giles watched as his oldest friend tried to put his thoughts into order. "Anyway, I found him sitting on a park bench, playing an old guitar. He had a hat in front of him for people to throw change into. I walked past him and threw a few quarters into the hat, not really paying him close mind." Sidney stopped again, his eyes unfocused as if he were watching a movie that no one else could see. "Ha, I remember as I pasted him. Every hair on my body stood straight up, and a chill went down my spine. I had only felt like that on a few occasions. When I was in the presence of a Necromancer."  
  
Giles waited for Sidney to continue. He didn't want to pry, but he was fascinated by Sidney's story. "Sidney, you really don't have to." he started to tell his friend.  
  
The former Watcher waved away the Librarian's effort to end this conversation. "You do have a right to know, Rupert. Eddie will be working with Buff very closely in the following days. Perhaps even weeks! It's only fair that, as her Watcher, you know who exactly she is working with. Plus," Sidney added with a small smile. "You have to know how to write Eddie and myself for your Diary."  
  
The thought that he would have to describe this conversation in his Watcher Diary had not occurred to Giles. Sadness came over him, knowing that others would read about what was obviously a personal story for Sidney. "Would you like some tea?" he asked suddenly. "I have a some in my office for when I work late."  
  
Sidney looked at his friend with fondness. "Tea would be perfect, Rupert."  
  
  
  
  
  
.-----.-----.  
  
  
  
New York City, USA  
  
July 22, 1994  
  
  
  
Sidney Benton leaned against a tall oak tree, watching a young man play guitar. The boy, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was being watched, sat on a green park bench, strumming softly on his battered instrument. It was getting dark, but the boy didn't seem to notice, he continued to play even though there hadn't been a passer-by in more then 15 minutes.  
  
The boy was dressed in a pair of old black jeans, a midnight blue T- shirt, and black Nikes. A stained Yankee's baseball cap sat at his feet, filled with an assortment of loose change, and a smattering of dollar bills. Sidney knew that the boy had placed the bills there himself, probably hoping that some Good Samaritan would follow his example, Sidney thought to himself.  
  
The former Watcher tugged at the collar of his black turtleneck, trying to get some fresh air on to his skin. I most likely look as if I'm preparing to attack some poor woman on an evening jog, he thought as he looked down at his own attire. He was dressed in slacks, the previously mentioned turtleneck and a sports coat. All were black.  
  
Sidney looked up to see two police officers walking toward the boy, who had stopped playing his guitar. They stopped and started to talk to the young man. I hope to God that they don't try to arrest him. There's no telling what he may do to them. The Reanimator silently vowed to do everything in his power to stop the young Necromancer from harming the pair of officers.  
  
Sidney's fears were elevated when one of the cops laughed and handed the boy a ten-dollar bill. A few more words were exchanged, and the two policemen began walking away from the park bench and deeper into Central Park. The older man watched the officers disappear over a small hill, then turned his attention back to his target. The young man had picked up the Yankee cap, and emptied the change into a pocket of his jeans. Well it's now or never, old man, Sidney thought as he watched the boy start to pull on his coat. Confront him or let him be.  
  
The decision was made in a heartbeat. Sidney detached himself from the tree he had been using for cover, breaking the spell that had kept people from looking too closely at him. He made his way toward the park bench, where the boy was now strapping the guitar to his back. Sidney reached the bench just as the boy turned in his direction. The Reanimator stopped dead in his tracks, ending up only three feet away from the teenager. My God! He can't be more then 16! Sidney thought as he got a good look at the boy's face. Definitely too young to have the required knowledge to become a Necromancer. Other then the youthfulness of the face staring at him, Sidney noticed one other thing. The face showed absolutely no surprise at seeing him. "Ah, hello. My name is Sidney Benton." the former Watcher began.  
  
"Why the Hell have you been watching me all day?" the boy cut him off. "What are you, some kind of perv?"  
  
The force of the boy's words startled Sidney. "Wha-what? Me?"  
  
"Yeah you! You've been trying to hide behind that tree for the past 5 hours, man!" The young man's face twisting in anger. "What the Hell's your problem?"  
  
Shit! He has known I was there the whole time! Sidney had to think fast, "I was intrigued by your.talent!"  
  
The boy looked at him skeptically. "Uh-huh, sure. You spent 5 hours hiding behind a tree cause you like the way I play guitar. Right."  
  
All right, he didn't believe that great lie, Sidney thought frantically. Now what? The teenage boy was staring at him, seeming to peer directly through him. Oh, to Hell with it! Truth it is! Sidney cleared his throat and started. "My name is Sidney Benton, and I was not referring to your talents as a musician. I was referring to you other talents."  
  
The boy looked at him for a moment, not comprehending. Then insight flashed in his eyes. His mouth fell open slightly, but no words came out. Then they boy tried to run.  
  
He was faster and younger, then Sidney, but he never go more then ten feet away before he seemed to run head first into a wall. An invisible wall. Flat on his back, the boy looked up to see Sidney staring down at him, a slight smile on his lips. "There's really no need to run, young man. I just wish to talk." Sidney told him.  
  
The teenage boy looked around, he figured he could get past the old man again, but didn't feel like getting knocked on his ass again. "Just talk?" he asked warily.  
  
Sidney helped the boy to his feet. "Well, if you told me your name, perhaps we could grab a bite to eat as well."  
  
The boy hesitated a moment, his stomach rumbling its acceptance of Sidney's offer. "I'm Eddie, Eddie Richmond." The boy wasn't happy saying it.  
  
  
  
.-----.-----.  
  
  
  
Giles looked over his teacup at his friend, his eyes showing mirth. "Well that's quite the first impression you gave the boy." He smiled as he said it, showing that he was only partly serious.  
  
Sidney couldn't hold his own smile back, so he covered it by taking a sip of tea. "Yes, well, things did get better after that. At first Eddie wasn't sure if he wanted to trust me, but I eventually won him over."  
  
The Watcher raised his eyebrows in a bad parody of shock. "You mean there was doubt, that you would?"  
  
"Very funny, Rui!" the Reanimator said, stressing the freshmen nickname Giles had gotten at Oxford. "But it was touch and go there for awhile. Eddie has major trust issues, he has trouble believing people care about him."  
  
This time Giles only nodded. "Yes, well I can see why you would be worried about him at a social gathering." Giles said as he put his tea down. "Though I'm sure that Buff and the rest of the group will treat him fine." Pausing to rethink, Giles added, "If they can get past their less then ingratiating introductions."  
  
"Yes, well Eddie said he would apologize for what happened this afternoon," Sidney replied.  
  
"Oh, then I'm sure everything will be fine." The Watcher said confidently. "Buffy's not one to hold a grudge." Giles rethought that as well. "Well, not for very long, anyway." 


	16. Chapter 15

The tension at the table was almost visible. Buffy wondered where it was coming from. She knew that it was coming from Xander and Willow, they hadn't looked at each other more then once in the half-hour since they had all arrived at the Bronze. Buffy wasn't the only one who noticed it either. Cordy had left the table out of boredom fifteen minutes ago, apparently she had had enough with " the quiet game", as she had put it and was now standing by the stage with Harmony and the rest of the sheep. Oz as well seemed uncomfortable, which seemed just plain weird to Buffy, who hadn't seen Oz react to anything in all the time he had been hanging around with them. "So Oz," Buffy said in an attempt at breaking the silence that had fallen over the table. "Our Lady Peace is supposed to be really good live, right?"  
  
The werewolf shrugged his shoulders. "It's what I heard. A friend of mine saw them play in New York. He thought they were great."  
  
"Well, will just have to wait and see, eh Will?" She said toward her best friend. "Or is that wait and hear?"  
  
"Both I think," Willow said without look away at the stage. The stage that just happened to be in the exact opposite direction in which Xander was sitting.  
  
Buffy sighed. So much for trying to start a conversation, she thought in frustration. Maybe I should just ask what's up with them, and get it over with. She considered that for a moment, then disregarded it. Willow would never forgive me if it has something to do with Xander. She thought back to her phone call to Willow earlier today, how distracted she had been, as if she wasn't really listening. Talk to Xander, tell him everything is cool.that's what I told her to do, she thought as she remembered her advice to her friend. What if she did, and everything is not cool? I need to talk to her alone! "Will? Would ya wanna come with me to the ladies room?" The Slayer gave Willow a look that told her she was definitely expected to say yes. "I'll be your bestes friend in the whole, wide world!"  
  
Willow sent a panicked look to Xander, who failed to notice it because he was busy studying his shoelaces. Resigned to her fate, she rose from her seat. "Sure, Buffy." She answered defeated.  
  
The pair walked away from the table toward the washrooms, Buffy walking behind Willow incase she tried to make a break for it. When they were out of sight of Xander and Oz, Buffy spun her friend around so that they were standing face to face. "What's going on?" she demanded.  
  
"W-what?" Willow said startled. Buffy simply stared at her, letting her eyes express her worry. "It's Xander!" The redheaded hacker moaned, her face crumpling.  
  
"What's Xander?" The Slayer asked, putting her a hand on Willow's shoulder. "What happened? What did he do?"  
  
Willow slumped against the wall and stared at the ceiling. "What happened? Nothing except Xander came over to my house today and kissed me!" Her voice was trembling. "H-he came over to talk about how he was sorry about why he's been avoiding me this week, and the next thing I know, kissing!"  
  
Buffy looked at her friend in shock. "Xander kissed you!" she practically shrieked.  
  
"Shhhhhhsh!" Willow whispered fiercely and looked to see if anyone had noticed. "Not so loud!"  
  
Buffy looked around as well before mumbling a "Sorry". The Slayer now grabbed her friend by both shoulders. "So you kissed...?"  
  
Now Willow looked at the ground. "Well, not exactly." Buffy gave her a questioning look. "Well everything started off with him trying to explain why he was acting so weird, then he starts telling me that he's not blind anymore and that he can really see me now." She stops with a sigh and remembers the memory. "Then he reaches up to kiss me, a-and I close my eyes and feel him touch my lips."  
  
Buffy was practically bouncing with anticipation. "What do you mean not exactly? He kissed you!"  
  
Willow's face crumpled again as she tried to speak. "H-he touched my l- lips, and then O-oz knocked on the door and you called! Xander couldn't get away from me fast enough! He jumped away from me like I was on fire!" A sob escaped from her before she could continue. "And then he just left, he said something to Oz and left!"  
  
Buffy was speechless. He kisses her.well almost kisses her and then runs of without saying anything? Seeing her Willow crying gave Buffy the urge to go and pummel her insensitive friend. "I'm sure it wasn't because of you that he left," she told the distraught Willow. "It was probably that everything just wigged him out! Kissing you, your boyfriend at the door, the phone ringing. Guys are timid creatures, the smallest sounds can send them running!" Buffy smiled reassuringly at her closest friend.  
  
Willow looked up at Buffy, her eyes red and filled with tears. "B-but what if it was me? What if, like, the thought of kissing me made him run?" Her voice was just a whisper, breathless from holding back sobs.  
  
Deciding to stick with humor, Buffy tried to reassure her friend. "Oh come on Will, you can't believe that! Xander's kissed a 6-foot insect and a 1000- year-old mummy! I don't think the thought of kissing someone as fine looking as you is going to send him screaming from the room!"  
  
"I didn't say he was screaming." Willow said in an insulted voice, but gave Buffy a half-smile that showed she was kidding. The smile disappeared and was replaced with an uncertain frown. "Why did he do it then? Any of it! Why tell me all this.stuff, and then leave?" she asked.  
  
Buffy paused for a moment before answering. "Maybe he was just freaked out," she said finally. Willow gave her a puzzled look, and she continued. "I mean you are his best friend, and having feelings for you come out of nowhere may have spooked him. Then with Oz at the door." Buffy shrugged. "He might think he's taking advantage of you."  
  
Willow looked toward the table where Oz and Xander were still sitting. Sitting and talking. "Why would he think that?" she said worriedly, not taking her eyes off the talking Xander and Oz. What are they talking about? Is he telling Oz what happened?  
  
"Well you are with Oz now, and Xander does know the way you felt about him.or is that still feel?" Buffy said, trying to get Willow's attention back.  
  
"What?" Willow managed to drag her attention away from Oz and Xander and concentrate on Buffy. "No, you're right, I'm with Oz now! And Xander's with Cordelia." She barely managed to hold back the disgust from her voice.  
  
Buffy couldn't help but smile. "Issues much?"  
  
Willow had managed to get her emotions under enough control to give Buffy a dirty look. "I still don't get what he sees in her," she said somewhat sullenly. " I mean, Cordelia! He couldn't stand her for like, forever! Now they're all with the kissing, and the touching and the." The hacker shuddered at the image.  
  
"Whoa! Easy with the play by play!" Buffy couldn't understand why Xander had decided to.date? Cordelia anymore then Willow did. What does he see in her? She looked over to where Queen C was holding court with Harmony and some girl she hadn't seen before. Buffy had to admit that Cordy did look amazing tonight, dressed in a tight fitting black dress that complimented all the most complimentable features of her body. Buffy felt a twinge of jealousy. I used to dress like that. Pushing those thoughts from her mind, she brought the focus back to Willow. " Well yeah, you're with Oz and he's with the Ice Queen. So just talk to him and tell him that everything is cool. There's no reason to mix things up now. Right?" The Slayer put in when Willow didn't answer right away.  
  
"Yeah." Willow said as she watched Oz and Xander again. Then she seemed to stand taller and looked at Buffy with something that was almost, but not quite confidence. "I mean right! Change is bad! What I have now is good. Oz is good! I'm good! Everything is good!"  
  
"Well that's good!" Buffy said relieved. "So you'll talk to Xander?"  
  
"Yeah, but not tonight." Willow had her eyes glued to their table. Her voice seemed a little faint.  
  
"Why not?" Buffy frowned and looked at the table.  
  
"Because," Willow said pointing to a dark figure moving through the crowed. "Eddie's here."  
  
.----.----.  
  
Xander was as about as depressed as he had ever been in his whole life. The fact that he had ignored Willow for most of the week, then almost kissed her while her boyfriend was knocking on the door. To top it off, Cordy was now ignoring him. He was depressed. This depression was upped a notch when Buffy had dragged Willow off to the washroom, for what he guessed was a brutal interrogation that would crack Willow and reveal all the sordid and disturbing details of what had happened earlier this evening. So, he was depressed, and now Oz was trying to talk to him.  
  
"So Xander, what's up with Willow?" Oz asked as he looked at Xander. His voice was friendly, but a little worried. "She's acting kinda.unWillowish."  
  
"What's up? What could be up? No nothing's up! Everything is DOWN! Way down! So down, that if it were anymore down, it'd be kinda up. But it's not up! No! Up is definitely the wrong direction things are going." Xander was out of breath by the time he ended his little rant. Panting, he looked around the Bronze. "Where are they? What could they be doing that is taking this long?"  
  
Oz moved his seat away from Xander a little and gave him a worried look. "Um, I'm not sure. In addition, I don't think either of us should really want to know."  
  
Xander let the comment pass, which should have clued off anyone who knew him, that he was not acting himself. I can just picture it! he thought. Buffy holding poor Willows head over a toilet, demanding to know everything! Willow, crying, trying to be strong but eventually caving in under the threat of flushing! Xander resisted the urge to run screaming from the table and into the girls' washroom. Meanwhile, Oz had sat in silence, simply observing the people in the Bronze.  
  
"Who's that with Cordelia and Harmony?" Oz asked as he looked across the Bronze toward the stage. "I haven't seen her before."  
  
Xander looked up distractedly, still thinking about Willow and Buffy. "Uh, I think her name is Melissa.something." He looked over at the newest member of the brat pack. "Cordy mentioned something about a new girl or something a few days ago. I guess that's her." Forgetting about Cordy, her sheep, and Oz, Xander brought his mind back to what had happened at Willow's house. What the hell was I thinking? I go over to tell her that I'm sorry about ignoring her, and then start rambling like an moron about how she's changed and I've changed.and then I try to kiss her! I'm an idiot! I should be put to sleep now to make sure that the gene that causes it doesn't spread into the general population! Xander's brooding thoughts were again interrupted by Oz, this time to mention that the band was setting up.  
  
"Shouldn't be to long now till they start playing." Oz observed. "Willow and Buffy should be back soon too."  
  
Xander managed a "yeah", and returned to his thoughts. She must hate me! I'm supposed to be her best friend and I go and take advantage of the way she felt about me. I am scum. Someone should just go get the pooper- scooper, pick me up off this chair and throw my butt in the garbage. Xander noticed that he had not taken his eyes off where Cordelia was standing, and that he had been staring at her for the past few minutes. Cordy looked slightly bored, not a new look for her, as Harmony talked to her excitedly. She looked up and caught him staring at her. She gave him a small smile, the one she saved for their "conversations" in the utility closet and her car. It quickly disappeared as she looked down at the blithering idiot that was her friend, and said something that Xander couldn't hear, but guessing from Harmony's reaction, it wasn't a compliment.  
  
Cordelia! How did I ever end up with her? Xander thought as he watched his girlfriend from a distance. I mean, Cordelia! She's been the enemy for as long as I can remember, and now I'm dating her. There is something definitely wrong with me. Why do I fall for the girls who are no good to me? Buffy? Cordy? Ampata, Ms. French? It's just a big old line of pain, brushes with death, and humiliation! Xander looked up at Oz, who was busy watching Our Lady Peace set up on stage. I hope he knows how lucky he is to be with Willow. She's the nicest, sweetest, most giving person in the whole world. Plus she's got an amazing set of legs.HEY! Where the hell did that come from? She's practically your sister! Get it out of your head SICKO! But for all his effort, Xander couldn't get the picture of Willow out of his mind.  
  
Memories floated to the surface like long trapped bubbles which were now ready to burst. He saw her smiling at him, waving to him, jumping up and down with excitement. These were found memories for Xander, ones which made him feel good about knowing a person like Willow. Soon these memories were replaced by ones that Xander had done his best to forget or ignore. Now they invaded his mind like an army, rolling over anything that stood in its way. Willow in gym class. Willow getting out of the pool they visited every summer. The memory of Halloween filled his head, with Willow dressed in tight leather pants and a low-cut top. Even this image was replaced by a more resent one, finding Willow in his bedroom, dressed only in his shirt. She had been under the love spell that he had had Amy cast on Cordelia, after she had dumped him on Valentines Day.  
  
The memory played back in his head like a movie reel: Willow rising from his bed, the shirt she wore barely going past the top of her thighs. Willow cornering him, telling him that she wanted him to be her first! Biting his ear! Finally, this memory to was taken over by another. Last week in Giles car, riding home from the cemetery. With space so cramped with books and just sheer lack of sitting space, Willow had ended up practically sitting in his lap. The bad shocks on Giles car had made the ride a bumpy one, causing Willow to bounce and brush up against him the whole ride to school. What had scared Xander was that he wasn't uncomfortable, but he was actually enjoying it slightly! When they reached the school, Xander knew that by the way Willow jumped away from him and out of the car, that she had realized his.excitement. She had bounded up the stairs without looking back, leaving Xander to try and deal with the development in front of Buffy. She had of course noticed as well, and practically laughed at him. He had run away and into the school, embarrassed beyond belief! He had avoided Bronzing with them that weekend, and for most of the week, would not let himself be alone with Willow for more then a few minuets.  
  
When he had finally convinced himself that it was just a fluke, his body reacting without thought, he went over to Willow's house to explain. Then he had seen her, looking at him at the doorway, he had almost lost his resolve. When he had finally started to tell her, the look on her face was just too much for him. Looking at him with worried eyes, her hair hanging loose around her shoulders, and sitting so close to him, he had wanted nothing more then to simply kiss her. He knew it was wrong, but he did it anyways. Even with pictures of Oz and Cordelia bouncing around his head like ping-pong balls, he had gone though with it. When she didn't pull away, but leaned forward to meet him, his worries left him. Just as their lips met, Oz knocked on the door and the phone began to ring. It had been like a splash of cold water and he had jumped away from his best friend as if she were on fire. Yet, it was him who was burning up. He had rushed to the door while Willow got the phone, blathered something to Oz about how he had just stopped by to tell Willow something and then ran home to take a cold shower.  
  
And now everything is just so screwed up, he thought glumly, and it's all my fault. I have to talk to her, make this right somehow. Xander tried to think of getting Willow alone sometime tonight to talk things through, when he noticed someone walking their table. He couldn't tell who it was yet, but the way he moved seemed familiar. The figure's face was covered by a shadow as he moved in and out of the crowed of people in the Bronze. Angel! The name jumped into his mind out of nowhere. "I gotta find Buffy!" Xander said aloud.  
  
Oz looked at him and pointed in the opposite direction in which Xander was looking. "Here they come now."  
  
Xander turned around and saw that Oz had told the truth, Buffy and Willow were making their way back to them. Neither were looking at him, but at the figure who had now reached their table. He turned back to look, and was surprised at the relief he felt when he saw who it was. "Hey Eddie." His voice cracked as he said the words.  
  
.----.----.  
  
  
  
Eddie lit a cigarette as he set the alarm on his car. He had parked the range-rover a block away from the Bronze. As he walked down the ally that the club was on, he mused about the last time he had hung out with people. Two days before I met Sid, he thought.  
  
He had been in an abandoned building on Upper Westside of Manhattan. He had gone there with about six other kids of various ages. The main purpose of that get together had been to get high. He remembered staring up at the water damaged ceiling, feeling the heroin wrap around his brain like a warm blanket, letting the cool dampness of the ground soak though his clothes. Being both hot and cold, forgetting the hunger in his belly and the dirt on his skin. Not much was said that night, just some moans and groans that echoed though the building, some of pleasure, others not. That was a long time ago, the Necromancer shouted at the memory. That's not you anymore!  
  
That was true, Eddie had been clean for over three years now. Sid had seen to that. Eddie had been dying for a fix ever since Sid had told him about his powers, his potential. It had been too much for him to handle. So he had found a dealer, and set up shop in Sid's bathroom while the older man was supposed to be out shopping. By the time Sid had come home, Eddie had been lying on the bathroom floor for about an hour. Sidney had taken one look at him, dragged him into the bathtub and turned on the shower. As the cold water splashed down on him, throwing him back to reality, the Reanimator shoved some kind of powder into his mouth. Eddie immediately threw up and felt his body cramp. When the pain had subsided, he found that Sidney had left the bathroom. Soaking wet, covered in vomit and freezing cold, Eddie had pulled himself out of the tub and found the older man sitting in his room. They had stared at each other, neither of them speaking. "If I ever find you.like that again, I will kill you," The former Watcher had told him quietly. "You have tremendous power, and equal potential. If you cannot respect that, if you cannot respect yourself, then you are a danger to yourself and everyone who encounters you. I will not allow you to hurt others because you can't control you urges!" These last words were practically shouted at him, Sidney's anger showing on his face.  
  
"Do you want me to leave?" Eddie had asked quietly.  
  
"NO! I want you to stay!" Sidney had said pleadingly. "I want you to stay! I can help you become something that you have never imagined. You can help people! Protect them. Do real good! You can do all of these things and more, but only if you help yourself! I can do nothing for you unless you do this for yourself first!" Sidney had tears in his eyes by the time he had finished.  
  
Eddie had listened to all of this, and couldn't understand why anyone would care what he did. The only ones who had ever cared about him were his parents, and they were dead. His foster parents, while kind in their own way, had never been able to reach the disturbed boy in their care, and had been sad, but not surprised when he had run away at the age of 14. Since then he had taken care of himself, done what he wanted and answered to no one. Now this stranger was asking him, no begging him, to change, to stay with him and learn to be a different person. "Ok. I'll stay, I'll change." Eddie hadn't liked the person he was all that much anyways.  
  
After that night, Eddie had never done anything harder then alcohol. Sid disapproved of this vice as well, but let it be as long as Eddie did it in moderation. As for smoking, Eddie had been doing it before he met Sid, and had told his friend that while he'll throw away everything else about his old self, no one would make him give up smoking.  
  
As he reached the entrance to the Bronze, Eddie took a last drag of his cigarette and thew it away, wondering what had caused his trip down painful memory lane. Oh, that's right! Hanging out! The young Necromancer was still worried about the impression he was going to make with Buffy and her friends. He had cleaned himself up, on Sidney's orders. A shower, a shave, and some clean clothes was the prescription for tonight. He knew he looked good when he cleaned himself up, Sidney had told enough times. Yet, he still felt uncomfortable. Yeah, like a new shirt and some after-shave is going to get them to forget about what happened today, he thought as he paid the cover and stepped into the club.  
  
The place was crowded, with teenagers packing the tables and dance floor. It was dark and stuffy, and Eddie liked it. Feels alive. Seeing no sign of Buffy or anyone he had met this afternoon, he tried to make his way across the club to check out the other side. Looking over at the stage, he noticed that the band was just getting set up to start playing. Well at least I didn't miss anything. Eddie also noticed a group of girls looking at him. The blond one was blatantly staring at him, while another one kept looking way shyly. The last one, who Eddie guessed was the group's "leader", was looking at him as if he were simply something she was considering buying. The feeling of being watched grew as he looked around and saw other girls looking at him, and few guys as well. Well, this is decidedly uncomfortable.  
  
Trying to ignore the various looks he got, Eddie made his way halfway though the Bronze when he noticed Willow pointing at him, Buffy beside her. They started to walk towards him, simply staring at him. What the hell is everyone staring at me for? Eddie was starting to get more then a little upset with all the attention he was getting. Turning slightly, he noticed Xander and a person he didn't know sitting at a table. Xander was staring at him as well, turned and looked at the approaching Buffy and Willow, and then turned back to look at him again. At first his face appeared tense, then relaxed completely. "Hey Eddie," Xander said with a strained voice.  
  
"Uh, hi." The redhead and the Slayer reached the table and continued to stare at him. "What?" the Necromancer asked nervously. "Why are you staring at me? Why is everyone staring at me?"  
  
Neither girl said anything for a moment and continued to look at him, then both jumped a little when Xander cleared his throat somewhat forcefully. "What? Were we staring?" Willow said quickly.  
  
"No we, weren't staring," Buffy said from beside Willow. "We were.uh, you look.different." Xander snickered from the table at both girls.  
  
"Thanks, I think." Eddie didn't notice the slightly embarrassed blush on both girls. "So, is this place usually this crowded?"  
  
Xander shrugged, giving the girls a moment to get themselves together. "Well, yeah. There aren't all that many places to hang out in Sunnydale."  
  
Oz nodded beside Xander. "Yeah it's the Bronze, the mall and.and that's about it."  
  
"I see." Eddie said to the two guys. He then looked at Oz strangely. "Who are you?"  
  
"I'm Oz," Willow's boyfriend answered. "I'm with Willow." He looked over at the hacker and gave her a smile.  
  
Willow returned the smile and took her seat beside him. "So Eddie, did you have any trouble? Finding the Bronze, I mean."  
  
Eddie didn't answer right away as he was busy staring at Oz. There's something not right about this guy, he thought as he looked at the currently blond-haired boy. Something I've felt before.Oh! He gave Oz one more look before shaking his head and looking over at Willow. "No, not really. This is a small town, not many ways to get lost in it. Though there are a suprising number alleys and side streets."  
  
"Yeah, just more places for vampires to hunt and hide." Buffy put in as she took her own seat in between Willow and Xander. "It's a pain to try and cover all of them while patrolling."  
  
Eddie sent her a surprised look, then glanced at Oz. Buffy noticed and smiled. "Oh, Oz knows about the, you know what. It's no big deal."  
  
Willow quickly nodded. "Yep! Oz is officially a Slayerette!"  
  
Eddie gave her a blank look. "A Slayerette?"  
  
Buffy couldn't help but laugh at the title Willow had coined to describe the group. "Basically a Slayerette knows about me being the Slayer, and helps out occasionally with researching stuff with Giles or keeping me company on patrol."  
  
"I thought the whole Slayer thing was supposed to be a secret?" Eddie asked slightly confused. "You let people go out to hunt with you? Isn't that like, dangerous?"  
  
"Hey!" Xander interjected before Buffy could answer. "It's not that dangerous! Plus we help! Don't we Buffy?"  
  
Looked over her friends and nodded strongly. "Yeah you do. As for Slaying being a secret, yeah in theory!" she said turning to Eddie. "But you try keeping a secret like that when you're constantly running around with a stake, saving people from vampires."  
  
The young Necromancer put his hands up in mock surrender. "Easy there, Summers! I'm not knocking it, just asking is all! Jeez, take my head off why don't you!" Eddie actually sounded slightly hurt.  
  
The look that Willow sent Buffy was one she recognized. Apologize! "Uh, sorry if I sounded harsh," the Slayer mumbled. 'It's just that lately, a lot of people have been criticizing me on how I slay. It wasn't personal."  
  
Eddie seemed surprised with the apology. "Uh, no worries!" he said with a slight smile. "My fault. I don't like it when people comment on how I work, I should have known that you wouldn't like it either." The male Slayer, who was the only one still standing, shuffled his feet slightly in embarrassment.  
  
"Why don't you sit down?" Willow asked, looking up at him.  
  
"Yeah! Take your coat off and relax, the band's about to start." Xander put in.  
  
Eddie smiled again and took off his rather long leather coat. He was wearing a black shirt that Sidney had had tailored for him the last time they were in London. Eddie liked the shirt, but thought the cuffs slightly long, so he had rolled them up to his elbows, leaving his forearms bare. As he hung his coat on the back of a chair and sat down, Xander noticed four deep scars running the length of his left arm. "Nice scars," Xander said as he looked at them. "Looks like a huge dog took a swipe at you."  
  
"Close," The Necromancer replied as he himself looked at the scars. "Werewolf. Thing was friggen HUGE! Guy was a bodybuilder when he was normal."  
  
Oz tensed beside Willow. "Werewolf? You hunt werewolves?" he asked carefully.  
  
Eddie gazed at the teenage boy with strange eyes, then abruptly smiled. "Don't worry Teen-Wolf, I'm not a professional. Just do it when I have to."  
  
Everyone looked at Eddie in shock. "How did you know Oz was a werewolf?" Buffy asked as she found her voice.  
  
The male Slayer shrugged as he looked at the scars again. "Just did. I've got like a supernatural radar or something. Can sense vampires, zombies, werewolves and other creature-features from pretty far off. It's a gift!"  
  
Before anyone could comment, Oz put his hand up to ask a question. "Just out of curiosity, what did you mean by only when you have to."  
  
"Just what it sounded like," Eddie said as he raised his eyes from the scars to look at Oz. "I don't hunt them for fun or profit. The only ones I've killed have been because I had to, not cause I wanted to. So as long as you don't go trying to give me any love bites or piss me off, you're safe from me."  
  
Oz seemed to consider this for a moment, then relaxed. "Cool." He said simply.  
  
"How many have you killed?" Xander blurted out suddenly. Willow and Buffy gave him a dirty look, while Oz just looked at him for a second before turning to Eddie to hear the answer.  
  
"Something around twenty." Eddie answered quietly.  
  
"You've run into werewolves twenty times?" Buffy asked amazed.  
  
Eddie shook his head. "No, only once."  
  
This time no one spoke for awhile as they let that sink in. Buffy had only faced one werewolf, Oz, and that had been a fight that she had barely won. The fact that Eddie had killed something around twenty werewolves in one fight gave the group, and especially Buffy, some kind of idea of how successful the Necromancer was at his job. After a few minutes of no one speaking, Eddie sighed. "It was a weird situation, that I was totally unprepared for. I had expected to find a cult, and found werewolves instead. If I had known that they what they were, I would have found another way to deal with it. Under the circumstances, I had no choice but to kill them."  
  
"What happened?" Xander asked, fascinated by the beginnings of what he thought was an amazing story.  
  
"Uh, it's kind of a long story." Eddie told them. "Are you sure you want to hear it? It's not a nice story." This last part was directed at Oz, more then any of the others.  
  
The young werewolf looked around at the others and shrugged. "I don't mind. I'm interested myself." He sent a grateful look to Eddie. "Thanks for asking though."  
  
Eddie took another look at the scars on his arm and took deep breath before starting. "It happened in Venice. Sid had gotten a call from some rich guy there about his missing daughter. The guy thought that his daughter had been kidnapped by a cult. So me and Sid hope a plane to Italy and do our Homes/Watson impression. After some digging around with her friends and co-workers, we found out that the chicks new boyfriend was kind of weird. So Sid tells me to follow him around, while he checks to see if the little princess just didn't get bored and run off with some other guy. So I'm following the dude for a week, and the guy had the most boring life! He was some kind of office worker and spent most of his time there. I drank so many espressos that week I was bouncing! One late afternoon I'm waiting outside his house, doing the lurking in the shadows bit, when a car pulls up and he jumps in. I follow the car into the middle of nowhere, where it stops. Four guys, including mine, get out, pop the lid of a sewer and go down."  
  
"Now, I don't know what you guys know about Venice, but it's the place in Italy with all the gondolas, and water. So I head down into the sewers and the thing is a friggen maze! I'm searching for the guy for like half an hour before I find him. Him and about twenty guys and gals are standing around drinking wine. Behind them are these cells with people in them. There must have been like thirty people locked up. I'm trying to think what the hell to do, when all the cells unlock and the people bolt! I mean they ran like it was for money! They all go different ways, screaming bloody murder the whole way. Now my guy and his friends are laughing their asses off. I'm wondering what the hell is going on, when they all shut the hell up and scream. Turns out that the whole lot of them were werewolves, and that his was like a monthly ritual for them. They'd kidnap people though out the month, lock'em up down there and then let them out right before the changed. Then they'd hunt them all night for fun."  
  
The entire group sat silent as they listened to Eddie tell his tale of how he fought the werewolves with nothing but a Desert Eagle, and a large knife that he had. How one of the werewolves had jumped on his back and almost bit his head off before he put four bullets into it's face, and how another had latched on to his arm and almost torn it off. "I tried to get some of them in the cages but they must have been on some time of timer, cause they wouldn't lock. So did what I had to do, and then got the hell out of there," he finished.  
  
The silence continued for a second before the first question was asked by Buffy. "Did you have silver bullets in the gun?"  
  
The male Slayer shook his head in the negative. "No, just regular ammo. I wasn't expecting werewolves."  
  
"But I thought silver was the only thing that could kill a werewolf?" Xander asked puzzled.  
  
"Technically, yeah it is." Eddie replied, choosing his next words carefully. "But werewolves are like most other living things, they don't last that long without their heads."  
  
Everyone looked puzzled, except Oz, who hadn't said one word since Eddie had gotten his permission to tell his story. "The knife." He didn't say it as a question. Eddie simply nodded and looked at him.  
  
Willow looked at the Necromancer with a mixture of horror and shock. "You mean you cut off their heads?"  
  
Eddie looked away, slightly ashamed. "There was nothing else I could do. I didn't have enough bullets to wound them all enough to stop, and the bullets didn't seem to effect them much unless I hit something vital." He looked back at them, anger slipping into his voice. "I did what I had to do."  
  
They all sat there, not talking or doing much of anything. Then the band started to play, and they had a reason not to talk. 


	17. Chapter 16

As a zombie walked past her, Maria du Maurier marveled again at what efficient workers the dead made. She had watched them work for the past three hours, only stopping when she gave them a new task. I'm even getting used to the smell, she thought as she watched a rather large male zombie unpack a crate that held a number of fully automatic rifles. Must have been a football player or something when he was alive. The zombie, its arms full of weapons, ignored Maria and continued to stock one of the large freezers with weapons.  
  
Maria, her eyes sweeping though the factory floor, allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction. They were almost finished for the night, and still ahead of schedule. "Not bad, if I do say so myself."  
  
Passing in between two zombies that were carrying a large crate into one of the freezers, Maria headed toward a small box that she had placed in a far corner. She had worried that one of the zombies would knock it over and damage the contents inside, but was surprised at how.careful?.the dead were when you told them to do something. The rigger had thought they would have shuffled around, moaned, and bumped into things. Maria was happy to see that the movies she has seen as a girl were wrong. When not working or doing as ordered, zombies simply stood still and waited. When they were given an order, the walking dead went about it at a slow and steady pace. "Damn things work like robots," she muttered to herself as she picked up the box.  
  
Carrying the case to a table, she placed it down gently, almost reverently. The activities of the zombies forgotten, Maria concentrated solely on the contents of the box. She opened it slowly, as if it were a part of foreplay that she relished and inspected the objects inside. Secured by foam rubber were four small glass vials with mouthpieces attached to the open ends. They resembled the inhalers that asthma sufferers used to fend off asthma attacks, but there the resemblance ended.  
  
Inside each inhaler was a bright blue liquid that seemed to capture the light in the room and keep it for itself. The creators dubbed it "Blue Blood", for two simple reasons: the first was obvious to anyone who wasn't colorblind. The second reason was that only the truly rich even knew it existed. The first time Maria had come across it was at a, now dead, drug czar's birthday party in Miami, 3 years ago. The rigger had a long- standing policy of not sampling the merchandise. It cut into the profits. Yet she had been persuaded to try Blue Blood and had immediately succumbed to its charms. She also realized the opportunity for the methamphetamine/PCP mixture on the streets. It had taken 2 years to get it off the ground, since all the major players in the trade were cautious bunch when it came to new drugs. They also probably didn't want regular riff-raff enjoying their drug, Maria thought bitterly as she carefully picked up one of the inhalers. Stingy bastards don't want to put any real money into anything that isn't a proven seller.  
  
And that, to Maria, was what was wrong with the drug trade in the 90's: lack of growth. Sure, people were doing more drugs now, then at anytime in the past and spending more money to do it too, but there hadn't been a major new drug on the market since the early 80's. The newest stuff came out kids basements and small time pushers. The big boys stuck to what had sold in the past: cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. Even old time drugs like PCP and LSD were homemade stuff now. The masses do it like crazy, and we don't see any money from it! Maria looked into the vial she cradled in her hands. "But you're going to change that," she said softly as she watched the light refract in the blue liquid. "You're going to put the cartels and LA on their asses when I get you out there."  
  
  
  
That was what the job was about, getting Blue Blood into LA. The people she was working for had promised to make and distribute the drug if this warehouse/lab was a success. They don't think it will though, Maria mused. They think it'll be busted before it even gets off the ground. That's why they had decided to hire that damn voodoo master, cheap labor, low risk. If this thing goes down the tubes, they know I won't turn on them and Charles would be nuts to say anything. He'd probably be thrown into a padded room anyway. Maria suspected that, like her, Charles Cristo had his own reasons for taking such a dangerous job on. His reasons were a mystery to her, but Maria thought she'd get to see more of it after she delivered the sacrifice for his ritual tonight.  
  
Putting the inhaler of Blue Blood back in its foam-lined metal case, Maria noticed that the meat packing plant had become silent. Looking around, she saw the five zombies simply standing still, staring at nothing. She frowned and took a closer look around the meat packing plant, surprised to find that all the work for tonight was finished. With their tasks complete, the zombies simply stopped where they had finished and waited for her to tell them what to do. If only the people I work for were so easily controlled, she thought as she shook her head again at what great workers zombies made. Closing and locking the case, she picked it up and started walking toward the loading area. "Come on, " she said to the zombies. "Get in the truck, we have to go find your master a sacrificial lamb."  
  
Maria waited until the last of dead had walked into the back of the truck, and then pulled down the door. Thinking again about Charles Cristo's agenda, she started the engine and put the truck in gear. I don't care what his plans are. If they interfere with mine, I'll bury him with one of his fucking zombies. With that happy thought in her head, she drove off to find herself a young man.  
  
.----.----.  
  
  
  
Something was wrong. Eddie could feel it. At first he thought it was him, that it was his invading their group that was causing the feeling awkwardness around their table. But that ain't it, he thought as he took a good look at the people sitting at the table with him. Xander seemed to be looking for someone in the crowd, and doing his damnedest not to look at Willow or Buffy in the process. Willow was trying not to look at anyone at the table, excluding Eddie who she sporadically sent an apologizing smile towards. What's she sorry about? Whatever it is, she's feeling guilty about it. The werewolf, Oz, seemed oblivious to it all and simply watched the band start up another song. Sounds like Clumsy, Eddie thought absently as he listened to the first few bars of the song. Bringing his mind back to the table, he looked at the final member of their little group, Buffy. She was the only one who at the table who even tried to make conversation. Her friends gently rebuffed her attempts, and she hadn't said much to Eddie since he had gotten upset about their reaction to his werewolf story. I told them they wouldn't like it. Hell, I don't like it, and I lived though it! Eddie knew he had gotten defensive, and felt bad about it. Not exactly a ripping good start to the evening. Buffy, her conversation attempts adding up to nothing but a few grunts from the others, was now occupying herself with sending worried looks at Willow and puzzled ones at Xander. Eddie was about to excuse himself to go have a smoke outside, when someone behind him tapped him on the shoulder. It was one of the girls who had eyed him when he got in, the one he had labeled the leader of the group. "You must be Eddie," she said as she walked around the table to stand behind Xander.  
  
The first thing Eddie noticed about her was her hair. It was long and dark, and seemed to give her face the type of cool, determined look many girls tried for these days, but few pulled off. She was taller then Either Buffy or Willow, almost statuesque in baring. She seemed to radiate confidence. Eddie hated people who radiated anything other heat. The male Slayer looked up at her face and gave her a half smile. "Really? Why must I be Eddie? Why couldn't I be Rick or James or even Bill? I could be Bill couldn't I?" Eddie turned to Willow, who was unsuccessfully trying to hide a smile. "I could be Bill," he asked the redhead. "Couldn't I?  
  
Willow nodded the smile she had been fighting plastered on her face. "Sure, you could be Bill. That is, if you really wanted to." Her voice faded as she noticed Cordelia glaring at her and Eddie.  
  
Xander put his arm around his girlfriend in mock protection. "Hey leave Cordy alone! It's not her fault she's completely clueless!"  
  
Cordelia threw Xander's arms off in disgust. "What did I tell you about touching me in public?" The dark haired girl turned to face Eddie, and missed the hurt look that temporarily crossed Xander's face. "The only reason I asked anyway, is that Harmony wanted to know if you'd like to dance with her." The reigning Queen of Sunnydale High stopped talking and took a better look at the Necromancer sitting in front of her. "Nice shirt," she commented. "Italian?"  
  
"Uh, no." Eddie looked down at the black silk shirt he was wearing. "English tailored."  
  
"Why can't you dress like that?" Cordelia said as she looked down at her boyfriend, who was wearing a powder blue shirt with a picture of Sylvester and Tweety on the back. Xander looked over at Eddie's shirt and then at his own. "What's wrong with this shirt?" he asked defensively. "It's original!"  
  
"It's an original piece of trash, is more like it!" Cordelia snorted. "Why do you think of been standing by the stage all night? It's hideous! And your cologne doesn't help either!"  
  
Buffy, Willow and Oz, accustomed to these little tiffs, simply shook their heads. Eddie, somewhat shocked by the harshness of Cordelia's words, spoke up in defense of Xander. "I personally like the shirt you're wearing, Xander. I have a red one just like it with Daffy Duck on it." The zombie slayer leaned over the table toward Xander an inhaled. "Old Spice?"  
  
Xander gave Eddie an odd look, as if he wasn't expecting anyone to come to his aid. "Yeah, Old Spice." He said as a smile spread across his face. "I find it has a more subtle aroma the Aqua-Velva."  
  
Eddie nodded in agreement. "True, true, but sometimes, I like the boldness that is Aqua-Velva. Not all the time, but on those special occasions when you need to make a statement."  
  
"Personally," Oz put in, "I've always liked High Karate. It's a bit strong, but I like it."  
  
Buffy and Willow giggled at the exchange, while Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Whatever, " she sighed, more then a little impatience in her voice. "My friend want's to dance with you. Do you want to dance with her?" By the tone of her voice, Cordelia didn't like being a messenger.  
  
  
  
The smile that had crept onto Eddie's face over the last few minutes disappeared, replaced by a look of caution and a slight frown. "What was your friend's name again?"  
  
"Harmony! The blond girl over there trying not to look over here!" To illustrate her point, Cordelia pointed directly toward the blond girl who had been checking him out when he had first entered the Bronze. At the moment she had her back towards him and seemed to be in "deep conversation" with the other girl he had seen earlier. The dark-haired one kept looking over the blond one's shoulder and talking excitedly to her friend.  
  
"Who's the girl she talking too?" Eddie asked as he took a better look at the girl that wasn't Harmony.  
  
"Who? Oh, that's Melissa, she's new to Sunnydale. Used to live in Chicago." Queen C. didn't even to bother to look at the girl in question, but was busy fixing her make-up in a compact. "Why?"  
  
"No reason," Eddie murmured. He looked back at Melissa and Harmony, who were both talking excitedly about something, and then at Willow and Buffy, who seemed to be watching him intently. "What should I do?" he asked, his voice trembling a little nervously.  
  
Both girls looked at each other, surprise registering on their faces. "Well, if you want to dance you should," Willow said carefully.  
  
"But then again, if you don't want to dance, then you shouldn't." Buffy said quickly after Willow. "I mean, not to talk behind someone's back or anything, but Harmony is pretty much a bitch." Buffy caught the look of shock that Willow shot her, but chose to ignore it.  
  
"Not to nit-pick, but I think that would be considered talking behind someone's back," Oz said, his eyes still focused on Our Lady Peace's performance.  
  
The look Cordelia gave her was a little harder to ignore. "I really don't appreciate you knocking my friends, Buffy," she said somewhat tersely.  
  
"Yeah, that's Cordy's job!" Xander put in as he looked up sweetly at his girlfriend. Cordy returned his smile, and added a punch in the arm for fun.  
  
While the others at the table laughed, Eddie simply sat quietly and stared at the table. Dance? Do I want to dance? Do I know how to dance? Ah hell! Things were going fine, and then this shit hits me from out of the blue! The Necromancer looked up from the table and across the Bronze at Harmony and Melissa. I don't even know this girl! She want's to dance with because she likes my shirt? What the hell is up with that? Eddie gave Harmony another look. She attractive, I guess, but still.what the hell do I know about girls? I'll do something stupid, she'll slap me, and then I'll have to kill her. As a torrent of excuses ran though his mind, Eddie noticed Xander watching him. "What?"  
  
"Nothing," Xander said, the hint of a smile on his lips. "It's just, that for a second there, you looked like you were thinking about killing someone." Before the male Slayer could protest, the other boy leaned in closer to him. "I understand. The thought of dancing with Harmony is enough to drive any man to homicide," he said seriously.  
  
Eddie stared at Xander for a moment, then cracked a smile. "Is she really as bad as all that?"  
  
Xander leaned in closer, until only a few inches between them. "Let me put it this way, " he whispered. "If you were to pour all of Harmony's redeeming qualities into a shot glass, you wouldn't need to wash it afterward." Eddie frowned at the analogy, trying to figure out what Xander meant. "Because it would be empty," Xander added helpfully when he saw the other boy's confusion.  
  
Eddie chuckled softly. "That's harsh, man." He looked over again to where Harmony was still talking to Melissa. "What about the other girl, Melissa?"  
  
Xander turned his head to look across the dance floor at the girls and instead found Buffy staring hard at him. "What are you two whispering about?" she asked, her tone slightly parental. "Very rude you know."  
  
Xander, not wanting to admit he was bashing Harmony in front of Cordelia, put on his best look of shock. "Rude?" He looked at Eddie and then back at Buffy. "Us? I think not, my stake-welding friend! We were simply discussing something, and not wanting to be rude and yell across the table, we leaned in closer to talk! To think, that one of my best friends in the whole world was thinking that we were whispering because we didn't want anyone else to hear us! Why, I'm hurt!" Xander changed his expression from shock to hurt in the space of a heartbeat.  
  
Buffy, eyebrow arched in disbelief, turned to look at Eddie. "Yeah, me too." He said, deciding to follow Xander's lead. "What he said."  
  
Willow, who had been watching them nervously, spoke up. "W-what were you talking about?" She sent Xander a worried look.  
  
Eddie watched Xander's look change again, this time to embarrassment. Something's up there. "Just guy stuff," the Necromancer said instead. "Nothing that either of you would be interested in hearing about." He caught Xander grateful look to him. Willow's expression however turned even more worrisome.  
  
"But we have lots of interests!" the hacker said earnestly. "We like hearing about all sorts of stuff!"  
  
Buffy nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, we're a couple of knowledge- seekers over hear. Especially about stuff people think we're not interested in. Strangely enough, that's where all the interesting stuff is."  
  
"Yeah, that's fascinating, but you girls really wouldn't be interested in this," Xander said. "Involves bodily fluids, and ugly rashes. There was talk of ointment."  
  
Cordelia, who had finished checking her make-up, made a disgusted face. "Eww! Please, keep it to yourself!" With that, she walked off toward the washroom without looking back.  
  
The group watched her leave, with mixed expressions. Oz's face showed mild interest, while Willow's showed a mixture of anger and sadness. Buffy looked slightly annoyed, but switched to one of concern when she looked at Xander. The dark-haired boy had no expression on his face as he watched his girlfriend leave. Eddie watched them all, interested in how each one reacted differently to a given situation. They're so different, he thought as the glanced at each occupant of the table. I wonder how they can work together as a group. Eddie's musings about the group's dynamic were suddenly halted by Xander. "So Eddie, you gonna dance or what?" the boy asked, a smile forming on his face from the blank slate it held moments ago.  
  
Buffy, Willow and even Oz, all turned toward Eddie expectantly. "Well I would," the male Slayer began hesitantly. "But I'm not exactly known for my dancing abilities. If you wanted me to go and beat the crap out of her, then it'd be no problem! Just point the way! But dancing? I'm not very good at it." Eddie stopped talking when he saw that everyone was laughing. "Good, laugh at my faults! Thank you so much!"  
  
Willow was the first one to get a hold of herself. "We're sorry, Eddie."  
  
"Yeah, sorry." Buffy said as well, still trying to contain her mirth. "But you shouldn't let not knowing how to dance stop you. Xander never does!" That set the whole group laughing again, even Xander. "Seriously though, go dance. That is if you want to. Because if you don't want to, you shouldn't. You should stay here if you want to." Again Buffy caught the look Willow sent her, again she choose to ignore it.  
  
"Yeah, but if you really want to go beat the crap out of Harmony, you should do that too," Xander said, still smarting from the knock his dancing abilities had taken.  
  
As the table filled with laughter again, Eddie looked toward where Harmony, Melissa and now Cordelia were standing. "Actually, I was thinking of someone else."  
  
.----.----.  
  
  
  
"Is he looking?" Harmony asked for the third time in the past fifteen minutes.  
  
Melissa Steinway looked over toward the "he" they were talking about, and shook her head slightly. "No, he's talking with Cordelia's boyfriend."  
  
"Xander." Harmony's face showed what she thought of Xander Harris. "I still don't see what she sees in him. Cordy must have lost her mind the day she decided to go out with him. He's so.ugh! His hair, his clothes, the way he talks! If there is a bigger loser in Sunnydale, Xander Harris must keep him locked up somewhere!"  
  
Melissa looked at the object of Harmony's scorn. Wonder why she doesn't like him, she thought as she looked at the dark-haired boy. He's good looking in that 'I-don't-give-a-damn-as-to-how-I-look' way. Plus, I like the shirt. But Melissa's attention was quickly captured by the boy sitting next to Xander. Now that's good looking! Eddie, or so Cordelia had said, was his name. She and Harmony had been watching him for almost two hours briefly looked toward them, his eyes catching hers for a moment, then turning toward the blond-haired girl sitting at the table with him. What's her name? Cordelia told me.Barbie? Bambie? Buffy! That's it, Buffy. Buffy made some sort of comment, and the group of teenagers around the table laughed. I wonder if she's going out with the new guy. Melissa's thoughts were interrupted when Harmony asked if the new guy was looking at her. "No, now he's saying something to that blond-girl, Buffy."  
  
"Oh, her!" Harmony laughed scornfully. "Now, she's a match for Harris! Two losers, united by their lack of friends and their abundance of patheticness!" Harmony laughed again, not realizing that 'patheticness' was not even a word.  
  
"Yeah," Melissa said automatically. She had learned not to defend people when Harmony said something bad about them. Even though Cordelia was the acknowledged leader of the group, Harmony usually led the charge when ripping someone to shreds.  
  
Melissa watched as said leader, Cordelia, made a disgusted face at her boyfriend and walked off in the direction of the washroom. The group at the table watched her go with mixed expressions and then returned to talking. Eddie said something, which caused everyone to start laughing again, and not for the first time tonight, Melissa wished she were with a group of people like that. It wasn't that she didn't like Cordelia and Harmony, but they rarely laughed at anything other then something at someone else's expense. Since Melissa was new to Sunnydale, having moved there only three weeks ago, she chose not to argue with her new friends.  
  
As she listened to Harmony prattle on about what losers Buffy and her friends were, Melissa thought about her old friends back in Mississippi. She had lived her whole life in a small town named Horn Lake, where her father was the plant manager for a plastics plant. She had had a good life there, she was popular, had plenty of friends and a boyfriend. Nothing ever really happened at Horn Lake, except the occasional scandal like the time one of the priests at the church was found urinating in the confessional. Melissa chuckled softly at the memory of the sensation the incident had caused in the town. And now I'm here. The move to Sunnydale had been caused by the plastics plant being closed and her father re- assigned to another one in California. Her father had said they should be happy he still had a job, and had not been laid off with the scores of people who had worked at the plant with him. Now, her father running a plant a few miles from Sunnydale, her and her mother had been forced to take up residence here.  
  
As she listened to Harmony telling about how by the end of the night she'd have Eddie eating out of her hand, Melissa couldn't help but miss her old life in Horn Lake. She liked Cordelia and Harmony, but couldn't shake the feeling that they were simply shallow girls pretending to be more important then they were. Especially Harmony, who could not get though a day with out causing some poor girl to cry about what they had worn to school. As if what you wear to school is a life-shaping event! Melissa sometimes felt that the only reason Harmony and her friends talked to her at all was because she could afford to buy designer clothes. Looking down at her outfit tonight, she had to admit that she looked good. The light blue cami top had cost her a fortune, as did the 40's length navy skirt, and the light blue strappy sandals she had gotten in LA had put a major dent in her credit card. The least expensive thing she wore were the dark blue butterfly clips in the hair, and even those had been pricey. The price we pay to look good, Melissa thought as she noticed Cordelia walking toward them. "You would not believe what they were talking about over there!" she said when she reached them.  
  
"What did Eddie say?" Harmony practically jumped up and down as she waited for their leader answer.  
  
"Nothing." Cordelia looked down at the bouncing blond, and frowned. "And stop jumping around like caffeine-addict! You're going to mess up my hair!" Harmony stopped jumping, but Melissa wasn't sure whether it was because Cordelia shouted at her or out of disappointment.  
  
"He didn't say anything?" Harmony asked, her voice coming very close to whining.  
  
Cordelia rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, as if she were trying to keep herself from shouting again. "I told him you wanted to dance with. He asked who you were. I pointed you out, and he asked about Melissa. Then Buffy made some comment about you, and everyone laughed." She frowned at Harmony again, this time her eyes hardened with the frown. "Happy?" she all but shouted at the girl.  
  
Harmony's mouth hung open, and then quickly shut as she tried to digest what Cordelia had just said. "What did Buffy say about me?" Melissa would never have thought that the name 'Buffy' could be used to convey so much hostility.  
  
Cordelia waved her hand dismissively in the air. "She called you a bitch or something. It doesn't matter, since he's coming over here anyway." Melissa and Harmony both looked over to see that Cordelia was right. Eddie was making his way through the crowd toward them.  
  
"How's my hair?" Harmony asked as Eddie approached them. Before either Melissa or Cordelia could answer, Eddie was standing in front of them.  
  
"Hi," he said simply. Again Melissa took a good look at the boy in front her. Eddie's hair was long and dark, and combed back so that it hung around his neck like a lion's mane. His eyes were a bright green that seemed to emit a strange light of their own as he gazed at her. The skin on this face was smooth, and the faint hint of Old-Spice told her that he had recently shaved. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a black shirt. The shirt, which Melissa guessed was silk, was rolled up to his elbows and revealed a rather nasty set of scars on his left arm. Looks like a bear took a swipe at him. To Melissa, Eddie looked like something akin to a biker that had cleaned up his act and was surprised at how good he looked. He looks so uncomfortable standing there, she thought as Eddie took turns looking at the floor and at the three girls in front of him.  
  
"Hello, I'm Harmony," the blond girl beside her said, a large smile on her lips. "This is Cordelia and Melissa." Harmony motioned at the two girls on either side of her.  
  
A small smile of amusement played across Eddie's face as he looked at Cordelia and then back at Harmony. "I believe I met Cordelia just a few minutes ago, when she came over to the table."  
  
Harmony's smile faltered a bit as she remembered that Cordelia had already talked to Eddie. "Of course you did! Sorry, it's just that the music is so loud that I forgot!" The smile was back at full force. "So, I heard you just moved to Sunnydale."  
  
"No, I'm just in town for a job." Eddie said as he looked at Harmony for a moment and then turned to face Melissa. "Hi, I'm Eddie." He smiled hesitantly. "In case you didn't know that already."  
  
Melissa smiled at his nervousness. God, that's cute! "I knew that, yes." She said instead. "Aren't you a little young to be a traveling salesman?"  
  
Eddie laughed softly. "I don't sell anything. Actually, I work with a.consulting firm. I'm in town with a partner. We've been asked to help find a more efficient way of exterminating.pests."  
  
Harmony wrinkled her nose. "You mean like rats and cockroaches? Eww! Gross!"  
  
Eddie shrugged. "It's a living."  
  
"Ok, this is boring." Cordelia said as she started to walk off again. "I'm going for latte."  
  
"I'll be back in a sec! I have to talk to Cordy for a sec," Harmony said as she turned to follow Cordelia.  
  
As Melissa turned to watch them go, she felt Eddie's step closer to her. "Um, do you want to dance? I'm not very good, but if you want to we can." The shock of Eddie's warm breath on her ear and the words that they carried made Melissa step back.  
  
"Well, I think that Harmony wanted to dance with you," she said, surprise showing on her face.  
  
Eddie didn't step in any closer this time, but his words seemed to sound even closer then it had before. "Well I want to dance with you. And since I'm the one who ultimately gets to choose who I dance with, I choose you." When Melissa didn't reply immediately, Eddie started to back away. "But if you don't want to, that's cool. I just thought I'd ask."  
  
Melissa reached out and grabbed Eddie's arm as he started to back away. "I didn't say I didn't want to dance with you. Just said I thought that Harmony wanted to dance with you first." Eddie looked down at his arm where she was still holding him. Her hand rested on the scar on his left arm. "Oh my god! I'm sorry!" Melissa pulled her hand from his arm quickly brought it to her mouth. "Did I hurt you?"  
  
The dark-haired boy laughed again. "No, it's an old scar." Eddie stopped laughing and looked at her seriously. "You said that you didn't say you didn't want to dance with me. Does that mean you do?" He paused a moment, and the frowned. "Did that make any sense whatsoever?"  
  
Melissa laughed, her short brown hair shaking with the laughter. "Yes it did, and you're right I didn't. I yes, I guess I do."  
  
Eddie's frown deepened "You do what?"  
  
"You," she said. When Eddie's eyes widened in surprise, Melissa blushed in embarrassment. "I mean, I want to dance with you!"  
  
A smile came across Eddie's face. "Oh, good! For a second I thought." This time it was Eddie that was embarrassment. "Never mind, let's dance before your friend gets back. With that, he took Melissa's hand, and led her to the dance floor.  
  
A minute later, Harmony arrived back holding two latte's. "What the hell?" she said as she saw Eddie and Melissa dancing closely in the middle of the dance floor, as Our Lady Peace played '4am'. 


	18. Chapter 17

Streets are dead, Angel thought as walked out of the park. Where the Hell is everyone? Angel looked down the street toward the 'downtown' area of Sunnydale. There were few cars about, but almost no people. Frowning, the vampire thought about why the streets weren't filled with teenagers walking back and forth in search of something to do on a Friday night. The Bronze, it came to him finally. Supposed to have some big band tonight. Starting down the street with a smile, Angel hummed softly to himself. When the food won't come to you, you go to the food.  
  
Keeping away from the streetlights, leather-clad vampire headed toward the only 'cool place' to hang out in Sunnydale. He had kept himself scarce in the area for the past week, preferring to hunt in less open spaces like the park. He'd never admit it anyone, but his run in with the bokor the week before still had him slightly upset. Zombies, he thought in disgust. Vampires had a natural dislike for the raised dead, or any competition in general. They were used to being at the top of the food chain no matter where they were. The fact that zombies would eat humans and vampires was disconcerting to the demons that resided inside the bodies of the dead. Added to that was the fact that vampires could not feed of zombies, and that zombies were controlled by humans, then the seeds were laid for a battle of dominance between the two.  
  
Spike had practically jumped out of his wheelchair when he heard that Sunnydale was now the home of a bokor. "It looks like we have a fight on our hands, don't it Angelus?" His entire demeanor had been mocking as he had watched his sire pace back and forth in front of him. "What are we going to do about?"  
  
"'We' aren't going to do anything! I am!" Angel had growled at the crippled vampire. "What are you going to do? Get them to line up in a straight line and then run them over?"  
  
Spike had ignored the insult, and frowned at him. "Well if you weren't so busy tipy-toeing around the Slayer, you might have noticed that we don't exactly have the numbers to fight this kind of thing." He waved his hands around at the handful of vampires in the room with them.  
  
Angel had smirked down at the blond-haired vampire. "That can be easily fixed." Snapping his fingers to get everyone's attention, he walked into the center of the room. "Ok now listen up! We got competition for this little town and we need a new battle plan if we plan to kick their ass." As the vampires in the room gathered around him he went on in a quieter voice. "So as of now, fun and games are over. No more feeding and running. Starting tonight, we're recruiting! Anyone you feed off gets turned. No leaving them behind. Bring them here. Stay away from the usual hunting grounds if possible. If you see any zombies, don't attack! Stay away from the Slayer. By this time next week, I want thirty vampires standing in front of me! Now get to work!" he shouted when the vampires around him didn't do anything. As they scattered, he turned back toward Spike. " That should fix that problem," Angel said with a grin. Spike had snorted and wheeled himself off into his room.  
  
Now, as the date approached for him to put his plan in motion, Angel stalked towards the Bronze, looking for one last catch. About halfway to the small club, he saw a teenage boy looking in to an ally. He seemed to be talking to someone, trying to get them to come out. "This looks promising," Angel murmured with a smile. "Two for the price of one." As he got closer to the opening of the lane-way, the boy started walking in, still talking to who ever was in there. Reaching the ally, he peered in and saw the boy talking to girl. More like a woman, he thought as he crept farther into the ally. She was taller then the boy, brown skinned, long black hair. Now that's looks good.  
  
The woman was smiling at the boy, drawing him farther and farther into the ally. The boy, who Angel thought couldn't be more then 16, seemed hesitant as he walked toward the woman. She kept her eyes on him, drawing him in as she walked backwards, slowly calling him toward her. Accent, the vampire noticed as he moved forward. Sounds slightly french.  
  
"Come on little one," the woman said as she reached a dumpster. "I have something for you."  
  
The boy looked at her, an eager smile spreading across his face as he stepped closer to her. "I'm not so little," he said, his voice trembling slightly.  
  
"Really?" she said as she opened her coat and leaned back against the dumpster. "I think I may need you to prove that." She smiled seductively, and ran a finger along the fabric that covered her breasts.  
  
Angel watched the boy stare at the woman. Oh yeah, the vampire thought as he looked on. She's perfect. The boy was breathing heavy as he reached the woman. She leaned forward into him, and wrapped an arm around him a pulled him into a kiss. The teenager put both hands on the dumpster and pushed forward, practically crushing their bodies together. He's an eager little bastard, Angel thought with a smile. I almost feel bad to have to break this up. As he readied himself to attack, the woman pulled back, a smile playing briefly on her lips. "I want to give you something," Angel heard her whisper to the boy.  
  
The teenager flashed another smile as he took another look at the woman's body. "You can give me whatever you want to, baby"  
  
"Oh, just what I wanted to hear." The woman ran her fingers across the boys' face, while her other hand went toward a zippered pocket. "Now I want you to open your mouth and closer your eyes. I'm going to give you a big surprise!" The boy did as asked, his smile widening as he heard a zipper being opened. Angel watched as the woman withdrew something small from the pocket and placed it in the boy's mouth. As soon as the object touched his tongue, the boy's eyes snapped open and he began to gag. The woman grabbed the teenager and threw him against a wall, forcing his mouth shut with both hands. After a few minutes of thrashing about, the boy's eyes rolled back into his head and he slid to the ground. "Well that was messy," the woman said with some disgust as she wiped some of the boy's saliva off her hand with the edge of the boy's letterman coat.  
  
"Well I for one thought it was a hell of a show," Angel said as he walked into the open. "That whole come-hither routine you did? Whoo-wee! I really believed that you were going to do it with the kid right there against the dumpster."  
  
The woman watched as the vampire approached with an annoyed look on her face. "Glad I could entertain you," she snapped. "Just so I know before I kill you, who the hell are you?"  
  
Angel gave the woman his best look of fear. "Oh no! You're going to kill me? Me? Just when I found a purpose to existence!" The vampire stopped and stared at her. "I don't think so." He said, his features shifting into his demon image. "No, I think the person that's going to die here won't be me. However, it'll only be temporary. You see, you're about to join the few, the proud, the undead!"  
  
"Uh-huh, well as smooth as that recruiting line is," the woman said she moved away from the dumpster and toward the unconscious boy. "I have more important business to take care of. But if you're looking for someone to play with, I'm sure my companions would be more then willing."  
  
Angel smelt them first, the putrid odor of decaying flesh came at him as the wind shifted. There were five of them, walking out of the darkness toward him. All were men. Some looked to have been dead no more then a few weeks. Others looked like their bones could barely support their sagging flesh. All walked toward him with a steady rhythm, staring at him with dead eyes. The vampire looked back at the woman, who was busy picking the boy up off the ground and throwing him over her shoulder. He noticed for the first time, the string of beads and bones she wore around her right arm. "Well since you seem to have friends waiting for you, I'll just go and fine someone else to play with." The vampire started backing away from the zombies coming toward him.  
  
"No, stay! Play! My friends have worked all night, and disserve a chance to have fun with a real vampire." The woman began to walk away from Angel, seemingly unconcerned with the vampire she has left behind her. "Besides, they haven't eaten tonight." With that, she headed off deeper into the ally, leaving Angel to face the group of zombies.  
  
As the zombies circled around him and the woman walked off into the darkness, Angel felt a twinge a fear. That was quickly pushed aside by his natural hatred of zombies, and he let a tight smile spread across his face. "What the Hell?" the vampire muttered as he moved to meet the first of the walking dead.  
  
.----.----.  
  
"So," Xander said casually to Buffy as they watched the band finish their last song. "You and Eddie are going to go patrol now, right?"  
  
Buffy nodded. "That be the plan from the old folks! First we party, then we patrol!"  
  
Xander gave the Slayer a look. "You didn't exactly party tonight like it was 1999, Buff. You ok with all this?" His tone was concerned.  
  
"With what? Having some gun happy warlock tagging along with me? Or maybe you were referring to the fact that I was supposed to have the night off, which of course was changed when the 'dancing-Slayer' over there breezed into town." Buffy slumped in her seat. "I'm sorry Xander," she said wearily. "I know you've been getting along with Eddie, but I've had it up to here with everyone telling me how to do my job."  
  
"No worries, Buff," Xander said with a sympathetic grin. "I can't say I can relate, but I could see where that would start to get old. Just take it easy on him," he said leaning in as if he were sharing a secret. "He'll be tired from all the dancing he's been doing."  
  
Buffy looked up at her friend and laughed when she saw he was kidding. "Who is that girl anyway? I thought Harmony was the one who wanted to dance with him."  
  
"Melissa.something. New girl. Friend of Cordy's." Xander shrugged. "You now have the entire dossier I've gathered on her so far. I'll keep you informed, though." Xander watched Buffy as she looked out on to the dance floor. Where Eddie just happened to be laughing his ass off with his new friend. "You wouldn't want to know all this because, oh I don't know, you're slightly jealous."  
  
Buffy snorted. "As if! I barely know the guy, and from what I do know, he isn't exactly my type. Anyway, it's not like your secret info is all that informative!" she mumbled at the end.  
  
"Not your type?" Xander laughed. "Let's look at your type, shall we? First there was Owan, or whom I kindly dubbed Danger Boy! Then there was he of the Goth freaks, Ford. Let us finish off our list with the one and only Angel. Mysterious past, brooding, likes the leather. Sure he was a vampire, but no one's perfect right?" Xander laughed again as he saw the sour look Buffy was giving him. "So tell me again how our new friend Eddie isn't your type."  
  
"Point taken!" Buffy snapped.  
  
"Look Buff, I'm just saying you've been in the dumps for awhile now." Xander touched his friend on the shoulder. "I just want the old Buffy back. Not the glumy-guss that now sits beside me. You gotta start having some fun again, is what I'm saying."  
  
"So Eddie's the one you think I should be having 'fun' with?" Buffy teased. "Cause maybe you're right, he's good looking, we have a lot in common with the slaying."  
  
"Hey now," Xander said slightly panicked. "Let's not take this fun thing too fast. I was thinking more of a nice game of Snakes and Ladders. Yes, slow fun. Fun without.being too fun! Start slowly! Some board games, maybe a bag of popcorn."  
  
Before Xander could start to ramble on about the types of fun he had mind, Buffy laughed. "I was kidding Xander! Jeez, overact much?" Buffy's laughter faded and she smiled weakly. "I appreciate the thought Xand, but I'm fine. Really! I'm just not in the party-hearty mood tonight."  
  
"You haven't been in the party-hearty mood since Angel." Xander stopped when he saw the pained look in Buffy's eyes. "Look Buffy, I'm sorry that your honey's turned into a fiend, but you can't keep locking yourself away from us. We miss ya Buff!" he said gently.  
  
Buffy smiled at Xander's concern. "I know. I just need some more time," she said quietly, putting a reassuring hand over Xander's. "I'm ready, and I know it's going to happen sooner or later. I'll be back to being myself soon." Even to herself, Buffy's voice sounded less then sure.  
  
"Sure Buff," the dark-haired boy said with a small smile. "Whatever you say." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.  
  
Their tender moment was broken up when Oz and Willow came bouncing back from the dance floor. Oz walked, Willow bounced. "Hey!" the hacker said with a grin as she and her boyfriend took their seats. "What's with the serious faces?"  
  
Xander looked over at Buffy, who had here eyes elsewhere. " Why, Buffy and I were in the middle of a rather in-depth discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of globalization, and what the repercussions of such a process on our age group," he said with a straight face.  
  
"Really?" Oz said, his voice serious but a hint of a smile on his lips. "Come to any conclusions?"  
  
"Not really," Xander said in equally serious tones. "Though Buffy had some fascinating ideas on how to revitalize automotive industry by giving the consumers a larger selection of cup-holders."  
  
Everyone was still laughing when Eddie and Melissa walked up to the table a few minutes later. "Hey, what's so funny?" the male Slayer asked.  
  
The group turned to stare at the pair of newcomers, Oz with mild interest, Willow with overt interest, Xander with blatant interest, and Buffy with an almost hostile interest. "Nothing. Willow was just speaking in tongues again." Xander smiled as Willow stuck a tongue out at him. "She sounds remarkably like Mickey Mouse."  
  
Eddie laughed softly as Melissa gave him a confused look. "Don't ask," he said quietly.  
  
After being introduced to everyone, Melissa looked a Xander with interest. "You're Cordelia's boyfriend, right?  
  
"Yeah," Xander answered, his smile fading slightly. "Some of the time."  
  
"Ok," Melissa said, slightly put off by Xander's less then joyful tone. "Do you know where she is? She's my ride home."  
  
Xander shrugged. "I haven't a clue. She's probably in the washroom again fixing her make up." His voice sounded slightly scornful.  
  
Willow sent Buffy a worried look. What's going on between Cordy and Xander? Buffy thought as she watched Xander turn to look somewhere else. Is he feeling guilty because of what happened with Willow? Just then, Cordelia walked up to the table, her coat on and a bored look on her face. "Hi Cordy!" Buffy said in fake cheer. "We were just talking about you."  
  
"You want a ride home?" Cordelia asked Xander, utterly ignoring Buffy's greeting.  
  
"No, I'll walk." Xander answered. He barely looked at her as he said it.  
  
Cordelia stared at her boyfriend for a moment, expressionless. "Whatever," she said finally and turned to Melissa. "If you want a lift, come on. I'm getting out of here."  
  
"Ok." Melissa said and turned to face Eddie. "I had a good time tonight. Maybe we can get together again. Before you leave."  
  
Eddie smiled uncomfortably. "Sure, that'd be nice. I should be around the school a few times. Maybe we could have lunch or something." A slight blush was creeping its way up the Necromancer's neck.  
  
Melissa ignored the snickers coming from Xander and smiled. "That'll be nice." Casting a fast look at Buffy, she leaned in quickly and gave Eddie a kiss on the cheek. "Bye!" she said as she walked off behind Cordelia.  
  
Eddie frowned as he watched the two girls walk off, confusion on his face. "Looks like someone likes you," Oz said diplomatically from beside Willow.  
  
"I guess," Eddie said, frown still on his face. He turned to look at Buffy. "You ready to go to work?" he asked briskly.  
  
Buffy looked up at her new partner in puzzlement. "Yeah, sure." What's with the sudden 'tude? the Slayer thought as she got up from her seat. Oz, Willow and Xander quickly followed suit and the five youths made their way out of the club. Gathering outside the Bronze, they stood around uncomfortably for a moment. "So Xander, you really gonna walk home?" Buffy said eventually.  
  
Xander shrugged. "I guess. My house is only about twenty minutes from here."  
  
"I don't like it." Eddie declared as he slipped into his coat. "This town ain't exactly Mayberry. Vampires and zombies, you odds of getting home without something taking a bite out of you, just got cut in half."  
  
"I'll give you lift if you want," Oz said to Xander.  
  
"I don't want to be a problem for you two," Xander said uncomfortably. "You guys might want to drive for awhile." He stopped talking when he realized what he was implying. "Not that you should drive for awhile. You should really go straight home and go to bed. Dangerous driving at night."  
  
"It's not a problem," Oz said with a smile. "You don't live that far from Willow's. We'll drop you off first." The sometimes-werewolf looked over at his girlfriend and winked.  
  
Willow seemed torn. Buffy realized that while she was worried about Xander's safety, she was uncomfortable with the thought of her, Oz and him alone. "Yeah, you really shouldn't walk home alone, Xander," she said carefully, her voice neutral.  
  
Eddie, who had been watching impassively, snapped his fingers. "Good, it's settled. You guys give Xander a lift home. Come, lets go earn paychecks," he said to Buffy. He started to walk off down the laneway. "Later," he said without turning around.  
  
The group watched the male Slayer walk off, slightly confused at his sudden coldness. "Well I guess I better go catch up to him," Buffy said. "You guys get home. Willow, I'll call you tomorrow. We need to talk about somethings." Noticing Xander's panicked look, Buffy waved and headed in the direction that Eddie had gone.  
  
Xander, Oz and Willow watched until both Slayers had disappeared into the darkness. "We better get going," Oz said first.  
  
Willow and Xander looked at each other and smiled nervously. "Yeah," the said at the same time. The three of them began to walk toward Oz's van. 


	19. Chapter 18

"So," Buffy called as she caught up to a rather fast walking Eddie. "Where's you car?"  
  
"Down near the end of the street," the boy replied without turning to look at her. "Sid wanted me to use it tonight. Didn't want us wandering around on foot."  
  
Buffy started to walk beside her companion for the evening, noticing the somewhat serious look on his face. "Are you alright?" she asked in slight concern, remembering Giles telling her about a Necromancer's possible mood swings. "You look kinda mad."  
  
Eddie seemed to ignore her, and kept walking. After a moment, he stopped and turned to face the Slayer, a slight frown on his face. "Sorry," he muttered, looking at Buffy with a mixture of confusion and annoyance. "It's not you. Just got something on my mind." With that, he raised his arm, a key chain in his hand and pressed a button.  
  
Buffy turned when she heard a beep from a car parked a few feet away from her. "That's you car?" she asked, looking at the Range Rover with surprise. The black RV seemed to shine under the streetlight like a black gem.  
  
A soft click was heard as Eddie pushed another button and opened the driver's side door. "Yeah, get in," he said as he jumped into the vehicle and closed the door.  
  
Buffy opened the passenger's side door and got in, closing the door behind her. "It's nice," she said as she made herself comfortable on the large leather seat. "Really very roomy!"  
  
Eddie said nothing as he put his seatbelt on, motioning Buffy to do the same. When he put the key in the ignition the engine roared to life and music started to blare from the speakers in the car. Eddie swore as he tried to cut off the voices of the Spice Girls singing 'Wannabe'. His finger stabbed at a button on the dash, stopping the British foursome in mid-ziga-zig-ah! "Sorry," he muttered as the music changed to a softer volume setting of Led Zeppelin's 'Black Dog'. "Sid was driving last. He likes the Spice Girls." He gave her an embarrassed grin. "I guess it's a British thing."  
  
Buffy suppressed a laugh as Eddie turned to concentrate on driving. "Didn't you drive it to the Bronze?" When she noticed Eddie clench his jaw, the Slayer couldn't help but laugh. After a moment, Eddie joined her, bowing his head so Buffy didn't notice the tears that came to his eyes as he laughed. The moment seemed to release the tension that had followed them out of the Bronze. "So," she said, after they had both managed to stop laughing. "You had a good time tonight?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess." Eddie stared intently on the road, not looking at Buffy. "Music was good. And I really liked your friends, they seem like a good group to have watching your back."  
  
Buffy looked at the Necromancer with some surprise. "Yeah, they are."  
  
"I never liked the thought of having anyone other then Sid work with me," Eddie continued. "Even with Sid I get worried that I'll make a mistake and get him hurt. The thought of having a group of people with me while I fight, frightens the hell out of me." Buffy felt Eddie's eyes on her in the darkness. "You must be stronger then I thought if you can handle that kind of pressure."  
  
Buffy looked at the boy sitting in the driver's seat, trying to decide whether she should take what he said as a compliment or an insult. Did he think I was weak before now? "Thanks," she said finally, not wanting to cause another mood swing.  
  
"No problem." Eddie looked over at Buffy briefly before returning his eyes to the road. "I'd also like to apologize," he said in a quiet voice.  
  
"About what?" Buffy asked cautiously, not exactly sure about where her companion was going with this conversation.  
  
"Let's take the safe route and say everything up to this point." Eddie flashed her a quick smile before continuing. "Our.first meeting, the incident with the gun, crashing your outing tonight, the werewolf story I told.everything basically."  
  
"It's Ok," the Slayer replied after a moment of silence. "I overreacted to most of them." Buffy sat there watching the houses pass by in the darkness through her window. She felt awkward hearing this boy apologize to her. Mostly because I didn't expect it, she thought as a tree flew through her field of vision. I thought he was just an asshole with a chip on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I shot you with a crossbow," she said softly, trying to crack the silence that, although there was music playing, had filled the car.  
  
Buffy heard Eddie chuckle softly beside her. "No you're not," he said with a smile. "You not sorry about anything that you've done since you met me and you shouldn't either. You did what you thought was right at the time."  
  
Buffy watched as the Necromancer turned the car around a corner, still laughing softly. "You're right," she said with a small smile. "I'm not sorry I shot you, though I am happy I didn't kill you."  
  
The two teenagers laughed openly as the car came to a stop at a red light. "Well I wasn't worried about you killing me," Eddie said as watched a car go though the intersection. "Like I told Xander, if I thought you were a real threat I'd have put you on your ass before you even knew I was there."  
  
Buffy waited for Eddie to laugh to show he was joking. Instead, she got a small smile from the Necromancer that showed he was serious. "Well from what I remember," Buffy said in an innocent tone, "I wasn't the one who ended up on the floor, unconscious." She smiled sweetly at him.  
  
Eddie smiled again, this time with an eyebrow raised. "I deserved that, didn't I?"  
  
"Getting knocked out or being reminded of it?" The Slayer asked, matching the other Slayer's expression.  
  
"Both," the boy said with a laugh. "I was glad you did that actually. Hit me I mean."  
  
"Really?" Buffy asked in surprise. "Well, I never got that whole S&M thing, but if that's your thing."  
  
Eddie stared at her for a moment, a weird look in his eyes. "I meant that I was glad to know you don't put up with bullshit." Smiling as he noticed Buffy blushing in the passenger seat, Eddie continued. "As for 'my thing'."  
  
"Hey!" Buffy said with an upraised hand. "This would be information I DON'T need to know!" She watched as Eddie simply smiled and continued to drive. With his eyes focused on the road, the lights from the dashboard casting shadows across his face, he reminded Buffy of someone. Angel, she realized with a start. In a moment the resemblance between Eddie and Angel was as clear as day. Why didn't I see it before? God, I feel like an idiot! They both had the same full lips and dark eyes. They also shared the same haunted look in their eyes. Angel's was explainable given what he had done and what he was, but Eddie's seemed out of place. True, Buffy thought as she watched the Necromancer, he's seen a lot of horrible things as a Slayer, but so have I, and I don't have that look. Yet. Looking closer at him, Buffy noticed a faint scar running down the back of his neck. Unlike the scar on his arm, this one seemed to be older. From the look of it, she guessed it was a burn scar. "So," Buffy said, trying to break the weight of the silence she had finally noticed. "You're from New York?"  
  
"No," Eddie replied, giving her a brief look before returning his eyes to the road. "I was born in Newman, Montana. It's a small town about 200 miles from anywhere important. Mining town."  
  
"Oh, what was that like? Living in a small town I mean." Buffy asked interested. "I'm from LA originally."  
  
"It's like you'd think it be," Eddie said as he turned the Range Rover around a corner. "Everyone knew everyone else. You couldn't take a crap in that town without everyone hearing about it before you finished wiping your ass. I didn't stay long anyway. After my folks died, they put me with a family in a bigger city."  
  
"I-I'm sorry." Buffy said, mentally slapping her forehead. Good one, Buffy! Bring up painful memories for the guy. Since you guys are such close friends, it was bound to come up sometime!  
  
"It's ok. Happened along time ago." The male Slayer said, his tone not giving away any emotion. "One of the first powers I got was the ability to manipulate fire. When I was a kid, I was always playing with matches and lighters. One night I lost control for a second and set the house on fire. My dad found me in the basement, choking from the smoke. He took me outside and then went back to get my mom. Neither one made it out. By the time the fire trucks got there, the whole house was on fire. After that they put me with a foster family a few towns over."  
  
Buffy listened in silence as Eddie finished his story. About how his foster family, who he said were nice people, just didn't know what to do with him. When he was fourteen he ran away and basically made his way across the country anyway he could. He finally ended up in New York, panhandling, stealing, and committing minor crimes to survive when Sidney found him. And I thought my life was harsh, Buffy thought. "What was the first power you got?" she asked, trying to get away from the topic of his parents death and his life on the street.  
  
"Raising the dead," he answered, a slight smile on his lips. "It freaked me out the first time it happened. I was.what six? My grandmother had died and I visited her grave a lot. She was always nice to me and I was really upset when she died. One day, my folks let me go by myself to visit her grave. I used to talk her as if she could hear me, like she was really alive and just sleeping or something. So I'm sitting by her grave, telling her about how a bully at school beat me up, when I realize that she was actually dead and couldn't hear me. So I start crying my eyes out, banging my little hands on the ground and wishing that she would get up and hug me. All of a sudden the ground starts to shake and my dead grandmother pulls herself out of her grave and hugs me." Eddie turned another corner, turning his head to watch a car pass. "To say I was freaked would be an understatement. She was all decayed and smelled horrible, and she hugged me so hard that I thought I'd burst. I told her to let me go and she did. Then she stared at me for like five minutes without blinking. I told her to go away and she started walk off." Eddie laughed as he thought of the memory. "Never did find out what happened to her."  
  
"Jesus!" Buffy said in shock. "That must have been." The Slayer paused to think of an appropriate word to describe just how freaky she thought that was.  
  
"Freaky?" Eddie offered with another smile. Buffy nodded, still in shock. "No, freaky is causing a swarm of dead locusts to fly down the hall from where the 6th graders were studying them and have them attack the bully that beat me up! Now that was freaky!"  
  
"No way!" The Slayer practically shouted. "Holy shit!"  
  
"Strangely enough, that's what the principal said as they loaded the kid into the ambulance," the Necromancer said with a loud laugh.  
  
As the tension once again disappeared, the two Slayers exchanged stories of their adventures. Buffy was amazed at how much traveling Eddie and Sidney had done, and the variety of monsters and demons they had fought. Eddie seemed impressed at the number of times Buffy had saved the world. When she told him about her battle with the Master, he suddenly got very interested. "You actually died?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah," Buffy answered with a nod. "It was just for a few minutes before Xander got me going again with CPR, but I was pretty dead there for a few minutes."  
  
Eddie stared at the Slayer with a strange look in his eyes, as if he were attempting to look into her soul. Suddenly he slammed on the breaks, causing both of them fly forward against their seatbelts. "Zombies," the Necromancer said before Buffy could say anything. "About one and a half blocks away."  
  
"You can sense them that far away?" Buffy asked as she undid her seatbelt and hopped out of the Range Rover.  
  
"Yeah," Eddie answered as he threw back the parking break and got out. "Four or five of them." He walked to the rear of the vehicle and opened back. Buffy watched as pushed down on the bottom, causing it open up. Inside were an assortment of guns, ammo and other devices of death. Eddie took off his coat and put on a shoulder holster. He grabbed the Glock he had had with him in the library, checked the clip and put it in the holster. He snatched up two more clips and inserted them into slots in the holster. "You want something," he asked as he saw the stake in Buffy's hand. "That toothpick ain't much good against zombies."  
  
The Slayer looked at her stake and then at the assortment of firearms in front of her. "I'm not real big on guns," she said after a moment.  
  
Eddie frowned as he thought. Finally he kneeled down and pulled his pant leg up, revealing a large knife strapped to his leg. "I'm going to want this back," he said as he handed her the knife. "It was a gift from Sid. I never leave home without it."  
  
Buffy looked down at the knife in hand. The blade of the knife was made of obsidian and almost as long as her forearm. The long, thin blade was obviously made for stabbing, and was lighter then it should have been. The knife seemed almost invisible as she practiced a few thrusts and slashes while Eddie locked down the Range Rover. "Thanks," she said as she put the stake back in her belt and slid the long knife into the arm of her coat.  
  
The two Slayers moved quickly through the streets, neither saying a word until they came to an ally a few blocks from the park. "In here," Eddie whispered, his hand reaching into his coat.  
  
As the pair moved deeper into the ally, they heard the sounds of a fight. Bodies crashing against walls, grunts of pain, growls and snarls. As they pulled back against a wall, they advanced slowly until they could see the battle clearly. The body of one zombie lay on the ground, its head not far from it. It was crawling slowly forward, using one hand to pull itself and the other to reach forward. The four other zombies surrounded another figure, trying to grab hold of him. The lone fighter was bleeding from multiple scratches and cuts. His clothes were torn and he looked tired. "Angel," she said sharply as she recognized the figure that fought the zombies.  
  
"Vampire," Eddie muttered as he pulled out his gun and watched the fight. "There's two ways we can do this. The first is we let them fight it out and then kill the winner. The second is we crash this party and clean house." The Necromancer looked over at his companion, noticing the intensity in her eyes as she watched the fight. "Your town, your call."  
  
Buffy thought for a moment, considering what to do. As she watched Angel punch one of the zombies, it reminded her of all the times they had fought side by side together in the past. He's not my Angel anymore, she reminded herself for what seemed the millionth time. From the way the fight was going, Buffy knew it was only a matter of time till the zombies overpowered Angel and tore him to pieces. And I wouldn't even have to do damn thing except sit back and watch. She realized that she couldn't let it end that way. I at least owe it to my Angel to stop what he has become myself, and not let a much of dead guys eat him. "Waiting around was never one of my virtues." Buffy turned to meet Eddie's eyes, a smile on her lips. "I say we clean house."  
  
"That's what I wanted to hear!" Eddie said with a smile. "Ok, you see if you can get behind the dead-heads. I'm gonna distract them, and we'll catch'em in the crossfire."  
  
"Ok," Buffy answered cautiously. "How exactly are you going to distract them?"  
  
Eddie's smile widened and he winked at the Slayer. Before Buffy could say anything, he detached himself from the wall and strolled out into the open. As soon as he revealed himself, the zombies stopped attacking Angel and looked over at him. "Ok, now I know someone here really needs a shower," he said as he walked forward, hands and gun clasped behind his back as if he were out for a leisurely walk. "Cause, I gotta tell you guys, something stinks. I mean, one of you guys must have a real infestation of maggots or something cause I could smell you almost two blocks away!"  
  
Angel turned and watched as the boy came toward them. "It isn't me," he said, a grin coming to his face despite his situation. "I think it's the guy in the lettermen's jacket." Suddenly the zombies seemed to move as one. Two of the tackled Angel, throwing him against a wall, the other two moved toward Eddie, a deep growl coming from their throats.  
  
As Buffy moved past the group and hid in a shadow, she saw Eddie's face lose expression and his eyes narrow. As fast as lightning his gun was pointed at a zombie, and just as quickly, a good portion of that zombie's head disappeared in a red mist. The sound of the gunshot was deafening in the confines of the ally, echoing for what seemed an eternity. The other zombie reached Eddie in a moment, grabbing his arm and throwing him to the ground. The zombie that the Necromancer had shot swayed for a moment and then continued toward the male Slayer, though he had slowed-down considerably.  
  
Angel wasn't faring much better then Eddie against his opponents. One zombie had him by the throat, while the other had bitten into his shoulder. The vampire, in full game face, head-butted the zombie that held him against the wall causing the creature to release his grip. Grabbing the other that had bitten him, Angel pulled it away from his shoulder and rammed it face first into the brick wall.  
  
The sound of the zombie's face caving in was Buffy's cue to move. Pushing herself off against a wall, she kicked the zombie Angel had head-butted in the face, forcing the brute to its knees. Removing the knife from her sleeve, she stabbed downward into the zombie's neck. Ignoring the gurgle of blood in the zombie's throat, the Slayer twisted the knife out and drove her knee into its face. Suddenly she felt a hand grab her ankle and yank her to the ground. The grip on her ankle felt like a vice, sending pain shooting up her leg. Looking down at her assailant, all Buffy saw was a neck without a head, oozing blood as pulled her toward it. The zombie who had had its head torn off had decided that, since it couldn't eat Buffy, it was going to tear her limb from limb, starting with her leg. Buffy tried to kick the creature off her, but only succeeded in getting the heal of her boot stuck in the open wound that was the zombie's neck. Her leg felt as if it was about to ripped off her body, and stars started to appear in her vision as she pulled her foot from the zombie's neck. A shadow passed over her and the grip on her ankle disappeared as the headless zombie was thrown against a dumpster. Looking up, Buffy was shocked to see Angel standing over her, a smile on his face. "Hey there, Lover," he growled. "So glad you could join me this evening. This wouldn't be the same without my favorite girl beside me." He offered her a hand.  
  
The Slayer stared at her former boyfriend, suppressing the look of surprise that threatened to show on her face. After a moment of hesitation, Buffy took Angel's hand and pulled herself up. "Yeah well, I wouldn't want anyone kick you ass without my permission," she said though gritted teeth as the pressure on her ankle caused a new wave of pain to crawl up it.  
  
"Feeling's mutual, baby." Angel's face still held his demon visage, but it couldn't hide the amusement on it. Suddenly Buffy was thrown to the ground again as the zombie that Angel had smashed against the wall tackled him. The sound of gunfire made Buffy turn back toward the other end of the ally. Eddie was firing his gun into the body of a zombie that had him pinned to the ground. The body muffled a lot of the sound of the gun, but it was still loud enough to echo across the narrow ally. Burst of red erupted from the back of the creature as the bullets exited its body. The Necromancer pushed the zombie off him and jumped to his feet. Stepping on the its neck, Eddie put three bullets into the zombie's head, splattering it around a radius of ten feet. Ejecting the now empty clip, the male Slayer inserted a fresh one and turned toward the other zombie that headed toward him. The creature knocked the gun away before Eddie could get a shot off, and threw the Necromancer against a wall. Half of its head was gone, and from where Buffy was, she could see directly into what was left of the zombie's brain. As the zombie pulled Eddie toward him, its mouth opening wide as it approached his neck, Buffy targeted the zombie's head and threw the knife with as much force as she could.  
  
As the knife imbedded itself into the zombie's brain, it released Eddie and turned slowly to look at Buffy. The tip of the knife was poking out of one of its eyes as it stared at her. As soon as he gained his footing, Eddie roared in rage and tackled the zombie to the ground. Pulling the knife out of its head, the male Slayer plunged it in again and again, causing blood and brain tissue to fly around him. When the zombie ceased all but the smallest movement, Eddie got off the body and looked around, blinking blood out of his eyes. When he saw Buffy staring at him, he smiled in gratitude and tossed the knife back at her, letting it imbed itself in the ground a half foot away from her. Picking up his gun, the male Slayer looked on as Angel struggled on the ground with a zombie on top of him. The vampire and the Necromancer made eye contact briefly, and Buffy saw something pass between them.  
  
  
  
Angel quickly pushed up under the zombie's chin, forcing the creature's head up and away from him. Eddie took careful aim and fired a round into the back of the zombie's head, causing it to explode in a burst of blood and bone. With the creature weakened, Angel pushed the zombie off of him. With his face covered in blood, the vampire bent down, grabbed the zombie's arm, and ripped it off its body. He then began to use the arm as a club and started to beat and stab the zombie with the bloody stump and jagged bone of its own arm. With one final plunge, Angel drove the arm into the zombie's already broken face.  
  
As Angel got off the zombie, Buffy and Eddie moved back to back, their weapons held at the ready and their eyes searching for zombies. "Well that was interesting," Buffy said, breathing heavily, noticing that the zombies were staying down.  
  
"Oh yeah," Eddie said with a grin. "A million laughs." The two Slayers watched as the vampire stood and smiled at them.  
  
"Just like old times, eh Buffy?" Angel walked around the mostly unmoving zombie, his face changing back into its human form. "Who'd have thought that you would come to my rescue. Spike's gonna laugh his ass off when I tell him!"  
  
"I don't know who 'Spike' is, but what makes you think were going to let you leave this ally as anything but dust in the wind?" Eddie said, still smiling. His gun was pointed at Angel now.  
  
Angel's face took on a look of profound hurt. "After all we've been through together? That hurts! It really does. Here I thought we bonded, maybe even bridged the gap between human and vampire." The vampire shook his head and brushed away an imaginary tear. "I guess not."  
  
Eddie looked at the vampire for a moment, then laughed. "You're a real pip, you know that? That's what I love about vampires, personality! Zombies it's all grunting and growling. No chitchat. With vampires, there's always this banter before you get to the fighting. I like that!"  
  
Angel stared at Buffy, disbelief on his face. "Is he serious?"  
  
Buffy leaned back against a wall, taking the pressure off her ankle. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say yeah, he's serious." Sighing, she gave Angel a tired look. "Look, I'm not in the mood to beat you to death right now, but I'm sure Eddie is. Anyway, you look like you couldn't stop a determined bee from kicking your ass right now. Why don't we save this for another night?"  
  
Angel sneered at her. "I'm strong enough to tear your heart out and feed it to your newest boy-toy, school girl."  
  
Eddie, who had stopped laughing and was now staring down the ally, cleared his throat. "While I hate to interrupt this battle of the minds, I think you both should know something."  
  
"What?" Angel and Buffy said at the same time, looking at the Necromancer in puzzlement.  
  
"Just that," the male Slayer said, pointing toward the far end of the ally. Where a rather large truck was speeding towards them, a dark-haired woman behind the wheel, firing an Uzi at them though the window. 


	20. Chapter 19

Maria carried the boy over her shoulder, leaving the zombies to deal with the vampire. She was tempted to watch the fight, but she knew she should get Cristo's sacrificial lamb out of the way first. Plus, if the cops show up I don't need to let them get an ID on me. As she walked toward the truck, she heard the zombies attacking the vampire. I wonder how long it'll take them to eat him, she thought as she neared her transportation. I don't want to wait all night for them to finish.  
  
Opening the passengers' side door, Maria placed the unconscious teenager carefully in the seat, making sure she didn't knock over the silver box that held the four vials of Blue Blood. "Now you be a good boy and stay put!" The rigger closed the door and walked to the drivers' side. She listened for a moment, hearing a growl echo down the ally. Maria heard something that sounded like a body hitting the ground come from the other end of the ally. Didn't take as long as I thought it might, she thought happily as she got into the large truck. Starting the motor, Maria allowed herself a small smile as the engine roared to life. Putting her seatbelt on, the drug runner sat for a moment, content at how well the evening had gone. Set up the first part of the plant in record time, got Cristo his plaything for the night, and took out a vampire. "Not bad," she said, looking at the boy in the seat beside her, "If I don't say so myself!"  
  
Lighting a cigarette, Maria waited for the zombies to finish their meal and make their way back to the truck. Not a bad looking kid, she thought as she looked down at the unconscious teenager. A bit too gullible, and in this town that'll get you killed. Cracking a window, the rigger watched as the smoke from her cigarette rose though the air and floated out into the night.  
  
Suddenly, the armband that Charles had given her seemed to tremble, tightening around her biceps and quivering. "What the hell is wrong with this thing," she said aloud as she looked at it. The armband was an ugly thing, made of bones, teeth and held together by strings of hair. "Stupid gris-gris," Maria muttered as the voodoo charm ceased its movements.  
  
Abruptly the retort of a gunshot came from the other side of the ally. Snapping her head up, Maria's senses came on as if a switch had been thrown. She quickly picked up the Uzi that hung at her side, checking the clip and flicking the safety off. Jumping out of the truck, she silently ran down the ally to find the source of the gunshot. "Since when do vampires use guns?"  
  
Hiding herself in a doorway, the rigger looked on in anger as she saw a young man fire a handgun into the head of one of the zombies. My zombies! Another zombie apparently had had its head torn off by someone, and was now crawling around on the ground. The vampire that had almost attacked her earlier was being held against a wall and bitten by two other zombies. "The Slayer," Maria said quietly as she watched the blond-haired girl she had seen before making her way around the fight.  
  
Maria watched as the vampire broke free from his attackers, smashing one of them face first into the wall. It was then that the rigger saw the Slayer move away from the wall she had been walking along and enter the fray. Kicking the zombie that had held the vampire, the Slayer knocked the creature to its knees in a few moments and then stabbed it in the neck with a long knife. Observing her small band of zombies slowly being destroyed, Maria raced back to the truck, trying to think of a plan.  
  
As she started the engine, the mercenary banged her hands against the steering wheel in frustration. "Shit!" she swore, as she heard more gunfire echo though the ally. I can back the truck out of the ally and get reinforcements, she thought quickly as she checked the clip in her gun. Yeah, and tell Cristo that I lost five of his zombies and didn't try to do anything about it! That'll go over real well with him! Maria swore again, looking down at the boy in the next seat. Closing her eyes, she put the truck in gear and floored the accelerator. If I'm going to tell him that, I better at least be able to tell him I killed at least one of them!  
  
As she neared the group, she saw that all of the zombies were laying on the ground, with the vampire, the Slayer and the boy standing in a close together, talking. "Well, maybe I can get them all in one shot," Maria said with a grin. Lowering the driver's side window, she leaned out with the Uzi and fired several bursts in the direction of the three figures. "That should make Charles happy."  
  
The boy with the gun pointed at the truck and shouted, bringing his gun up and firing four shots into the windshield. Ducking to avoid the glass and bullets, Maria swerved the truck into a wall, causing the passenger side mirror to be torn off. Swearing as she pointed the vehicle at the boy, Maria started to fire though the shattered windshield. The vampire and the Slayer had dived out of the way as soon as the boy had shouted, and only he stood in between the truck and the exit of the laneway.  
  
The young man continued to fire, this time at the trucks' tires. The vehicle shook and almost veered into a wall again as one of the front tires blew. Dropping her gun, Maria used all her strength to keep the truck from tipping over and continued to bear down on the lone figure that stood its ground.  
  
When the truck was almost on top of him, Maria saw him try to dive away from it toward a dumpster. Turning the truck toward the dumpster, the drug- runner smashed into it and started to push it and the boy down the ally. The boy disappeared under the wheels of the dumpster, and Maria smiled as she felt the truck bounce as it ran over something. She started to slow down.  
  
.----.----.  
  
  
  
Eddie watched as the truck barreled toward them, the woman behind the wheel firing what looked like an Uzi at them. "Get down!" he shouted, bringing his gun up and firing into the windshield and shattering it. As Buffy and Angel dived to the floor and against the walls, Eddie continued to fire into the oncoming truck.  
  
Suddenly the vehicle liste to the side and scraped along a brick wall, causing sparks to erupt. The Necromancer continued to fire steadily, this time at the right front tire. The tire exploded with a bang and truck seemed almost to jump away from its wounded tire and tip over, but the driver righted it before it could crash.  
  
Eddie pulled out his last clip and inserted it into his gun, watching as the driver of the truck regained control and aimed to run over him. "Ah, shit!" he muttered before the truck reached him, diving toward the dumpster. Pulling himself up, the male Slayer felt the dumpster slam into him as the woman in the truck rammed it. Eddie grabbed on to the rim and held on for dear life as the truck pushed the dumpster and him down the ally.  
  
Thinking quickly, the Necromancer let go of the dumpster and let it slid over him, grabbing on to the bottom of it. From here, Eddie watched as the truck ran over the body of one of the zombies, causing it to jump up and then back down. She thinks it was me, Eddie realized as he felt the truck and the dumpster it pushed, begin to slow.  
  
Letting go of the dumpster completely, Eddie lay still as it passed over him and the big rig begin to pass. Waiting until the front tires had passed him, Eddie latched on to the bottom side of the truck and let it drag him. Ignoring the burning pain along his back and legs, Eddie pulled himself along the underside of the truck until he was safely away from the huge wheels. By the time he had reached his position, the truck had slowed considerably, and Eddie could hear the sounds of gunfire coming from the cab of the truck. She's firing at Buffy, he realized as he listened to the retort of the Uzi.  
  
Eddie was unable to see if the Slayer was safe, but assumed that she was since the truck was now almost stopped and the gunfire was more intense. Good, Eddie thought, believing that Buffy could somehow hear his thoughts. Keep her attention a little longer, Summers.  
  
As the vehicle came to a complete stop, the Necromancer heard the driver open her door, still firing at Buffy. Knowing that it was now or never, Eddie dropped to the ground and rolled out from under the truck. Risking a quick look behind him, the male Slayer saw that Buffy had taken refuge in a doorway. Bullets were coming closer and closer to finding a way past her cover. Farther down the ally, Eddie could make out the figure of Angel pulling himself off the ground. For a moment the vampire and the Necromancer's eyes caught each others. Eddie pulled out his gun and motioned toward the truck and himself. Angel stared at him a moment, his face human and showing a weird concern. Finally the vampire nodded, his features changing so that now his eyes glowed faintly in the darkness and started to make his way though the shadows toward the back of the truck. In the span of a few seconds and a look, Eddie and Angel had come to an understanding. The woman first.  
  
Giving one last look to Buffy, Eddie quietly climbed toward the passenger's side door, his gun held tight.  
  
.----.----.  
  
"Get down!" Eddie shouted, pushing Buffy to the ground and raising his gun. The Slayer rolled on the ground and jumped up against a wall, just in time to see the truck's front windshield explode as Eddie fired into it.  
  
Realizing that she could do nothing to stop the truck, the Slayer slid against the wall until she reached a doorway. Pressing herself against it, Buffy could only watch as one of Eddie bullets found one of the front tires, causing the huge truck to slam against a wall. Buffy observed the woman behind the wheel struggle to keep the truck from tipping over, trying to aim the partly disabled vehicle at Eddie. "Eddie!" Buffy tried to scream, straining to be heard over the combination of gunfire and the almost deafening noise of the big-rig.  
  
The Necromancer either couldn't hear her or chose to ignore her, because he didn't take his eyes off the oncoming wall of metal that was headed toward him. Buffy prepared to try to tackle him when Eddie seemed to almost vanish and appear behind a dumpster a few feet away from where he had been standing. Damn he's fast, Buffy thought as she watched the male Slayer grabbed the edge of the dumpster and suddenly disappear again as the truck slammed into the metal container at full speed.  
  
The sound of crushing metal and squealing tires filled Buffy's ears as she viewed the truck crush the front end of the dumpster and the driver slammed on the breaks. Both the truck and the dumpster kept moving forward, causing sparks to fly as they scraped against a brick wall. She watched in horror as a dark form that could only belong to a body bounced out from underneath the truck's monstrous wheels and lay still. The Slayer stared at the body, unrecognizable in the darkness, as the truck finally came to a stop. Oh no! Abandoning her shelter, Buffy ran towards the body, but soon returned after a hail of bullets began to fall around her.  
  
"Damn!" she muttered as she dove into the doorway, putting as much of the wall between her and the continuing stream of bullets that came from the truck. "Damn, damn, damn!" Starting to panic slightly, Buffy caught sight of Angel getting up off the ground. To Buffy it seemed that he suddenly froze and looked in the direction of the truck, his whole body going ridged. Then it was as if some invisible strings were cut and he relaxed. Buffy saw Angel nod and then began to sprint across the ally, zigzagging as the woman in the truck tried to get a bead on him, firing long bursts that just seemed to miss him by inches.  
  
"Lover," the vampire said as he jumped into the doorway beside her. His face was in full vamp mode and the grin he gave Buffy made her step back. "Seems you're friend has some sort of plan to take care of our gun- toting vixen." Angel stared down at Buffy, his grin turning fierce and his eyes burning yellow. "We get to be diversions."  
  
Buffy opened her mouth, about to protest being a diversion, when she stopped. "Eddie's alive?" Her voice sounded strained, even to her.  
  
Angel snorted and poked his head out to look at the truck. I burst of automatic fire quickly brought it back in. "Last time I saw him," the vampire replied as he flinched back. "You ready to be a moving target?"  
  
The Slayer, relieved to know that it wasn't Eddie she had seen run- over, leaned against the wall and looked up at Angel. "And why the hell are you being so damn helpful?" she asked slightly confused.  
  
Angel seemed not to hear her as he peered around the edge of the doorway again. "You want to stand here asking twenty questions or do you want to help the Boy Wonder stay alive?" the vampire asked tersely as another volley of bullets forced him back into the doorway. "We don't have time to do both!"  
  
Within the cramped space of the doorway, Buffy and Angel were pushed tightly together. Even pressing back against the wall the Slayer could feel the familiar form of her ex-boyfriend rub against her body. Angel's afraid of something," Buffy realized as she felt the vampire tremble beside. Another burst of gunfire seemed to punctuate the thought as both Slayer and demon jumped back. "Ok, let's do it!"  
  
Without waiting for Angel's response, Buffy ran out of the doorway. She didn't know if Angel followed her. She didn't know what she was supposed to do as a distraction. All Buffy really knew at that moment was if she stopped moving, she was dead. Bullets nipping at her heals like angry dogs, Buffy feigned a move towards the truck.  
  
What the hell am I doing? Buffy asked herself when she realized she had nowhere else to run. Nice planning Distract-O Girl! Abruptly the fusillade stopped for a moment and then started again, this time sounding like if was coming from inside the cab of the truck. Crouching low against a wall, the Slayer took a quick look around. She saw Angel pressed against a wall on the other side of the ally. He was holding his shoulder and in the dim light, Buffy could see blood on his fingers.  
  
Buffy had only a moment to realize that Angel had been shot. She realized two seconds before the truck started to speed away.  
  
With Eddie holding on to the open passenger side door.  
  
  
  
.___.___.  
  
  
  
Maria couldn't believe her luck.  
  
She had managed to run over the only real threat, the boy with the gun, and now had the vampire and the Slayer trapped in a doorway. "You're going to have to come out some time," she muttered as she fired off another round at the doorway.  
  
Yet the fact was, Maria as getting nervous. If she didn't kill them soon, she was going to run out of ammo. If the cops don't find us first, the rigger thought with some contempt. It had been at least fifteen minutes since the first shot was fired, and she still hadn't heard one siren. The police in Sunnydale were even more incompetent the Maria had first thought.  
  
Her thoughts on the utter lack of proficiency of the Sunnydale PD were interrupted when she saw the vampire stick his head out of the doorway. Maria quickly showed him the errors of his ways with a short burst from her Uzi. After the vampire pulled his head back in, the rigger sighed. "I'm going to have to go out and get them," she told the unconscious boy beside her. Getting only a glassy look in response, Maria pulled her last clip out of a pocket and shoved it into place.  
  
Suddenly, she saw the Slayer run out of the doorway, quickly followed by the vampire. "Shit!" she swore as once again she stuck half her body out of the driver's side window. At first she thought that they were trying to escape, but then realized that they were trying to divide her attention. The blond-haired Slayer was running erratically, bobbing and weaving around the closed space of the ally.  
  
Maria fired at the girl, but had trouble getting a good shot. Every time she expected the Slayer to run through this spot, the girl suddenly turned and ran in another direction. She lost track of the vampire as she tried to get a clear shot at the girl, but soon found him moving quickly along a wall toward her. The Uzi barked loudly as she fired at him. He had tried to duck out of the way at the last moment, but Maria smiled when he crumpled to the ground.  
  
It was as she was turning to find the Slayer, that Maria noticed the passenger side door opening. The Slayer and the vampire forgotten, the rigger pulled herself out of the window, swinging the Uzi toward the open door in time to have it pushed away by a pair of strong hands. Maria was surprised to see the boy she had run over, wrestling with her for control of the gun. The boy had grease and dirt on his face, but was apparently unharmed.  
  
I fucking killed this kid already! Maria swore silently as she tried to regain control of her gun. The boy was only halfway into the cab of the truck, leaning over the body of the unconscious teenager in the passenger seat as he fought over the Uzi. Kid's stronger then he looks, the rigger thought as the boy pushed the gun's barrel away from him and toward the roof of the cab.  
  
I'm losing. She feels her own gun slowly being turned on her. Her wrists are just knots of agony, shooting pain along her forearms. Her hands were sweaty and her grip was faltering. She knew that at any moment, the boy would gain control of the Uzi. Considering the fact that she had tried to shoot him, smear him into a wall, and run him over all in the last twenty minutes, Maria made a guess at what he would do once the gun was his. And I have to wipe that damn grin off his face! So she did the only thing she could have.  
  
Maria squeezed the trigger of the Uzi.  
  
The sound of the Uzi firing was deafening in the enclosed space of the cab. Maria felt as the bullets tore through the roof, adding more noise. Yet she still pulled the trigger again, and again. The boy still held onto the gun, trying to control the direction of the gunfire, but he was losing whatever foothold he had into truck.  
  
As soon as the gun clicked empty, Maria smiled at the boy and slammed down on the accelerator of the truck. She heard him swear as the vehicle jumped forward like a startled elephant, the roar from the engine replacing the sound of gunfire. Letting go of the Uzi, Maria put one hand on the wheel and used the other to punch the boy in the face.  
  
The young man slid further down the seat under the blow, dropping the now useless gun onto the floor of the truck. While the punches didn't have tremendous strength behind them, they were more then enough to throw his precious center of balance off. With the third punch landed against his jaw, the boy started to slide totally out of the speeding truck.  
  
  
  
.___.___.  
  
  
  
  
  
Eddie couldn't believe his luck.  
  
He had gotten into the truck without incident, as Buffy and Angel played decoy to Machine-gun Kelly in the truck. He saw the unconscious boy. He saw a little silver box that screamed clue. Finally he saw the dark-haired women who had almost killed him, her head out the window. Why do all the babes have try and kill me? Eddie asked himself mentally thinking back to his fight with Buffy earlier that day.  
  
Choices! The Necromancer thought in disgust as he contemplated his next move. I hate choices! Give me one thing to think about at a time! The easiest thing would be to grab the box that sat next to the boy. Grabbing the boy without gaining the unwanted attention of their attacker was next to impossible. Ah, fuck it! he thought as he made his decision. I'll kill the bitch and then I get both the box and the kid. Eddie grinned in the darkness of the truck. Choices ain't so bad after all!  
  
Pulling himself in as quietly as possible, Eddie slowly crawled over the boy, one hand reaching for his gun, the other reaching for the woman. He froze as he saw the woman stop shooting. His eyes fell upon the gris- gris tied to her right arm. Zombies aren't hers, he realized at once.  
  
Suddenly the woman pulled her head out of the window and started to turn the gun towards him. His own gun forgotten, Eddie reached out with both hands and grabbed the weapon, trying to pull it away from her. After some wrestling, Eddie feels the woman's grip on the weapon weakening. Eddie grinned confidently, Your mine!  
  
His grin quickly disappeared when the woman started firing the Uzi into the roof of the truck. Momentarily stunned by the onslaught of sound from the gun, it took Eddie a few seconds to realize what she was doing. Redoubling his efforts to gain control of the weapon, the Necromancer tried to steer the barrel of the gun away from the roof and toward its owner. Just when he felt the gun start to turn, it stopped firing.  
  
Eddie managed an "Ah, shit," before the truck jumped forward. When the woman released her hold on the gun, the male Slayer felt himself start to slide out of the truck. Letting go of the Uzi, Eddie tried to find something to grab onto. His tentative hold on a seatbelt buckle was knocked loose when the woman's fist connected with his jaw.  
  
She hit him again and again, each blow pushing him farther outside, knocking his balance off. With one last punch, Eddie quickly began to fall out of the now speeding truck. He felt his feet being dragged along walls and snagged by passing debris. Eddie grabbed blindly for anything that could keep him from falling under the wheels of the truck. His hands found the small silver box that sat beside the unconscious boy and gripped it tightly. It was caught under the boy's weight and for a moment, Eddie stopped his descent.  
  
Looking up, he caught the woman's eyes. She looked mildly surprised that he was still there, but the look quickly changed to anger when she saw what he had grabbed a hold of. Eddie watched as she reached down into her boot and came back up with a large knife. He looked on numbly as she raised the knife and drove it into his hand and through the box.  
  
Eddie screamed in pain, yanking his wounded hand away, the knife and the silver box still attached to it. He didn't even feel it as he slid out of the truck and slammed into a wall. He didn't notice sliding down that wall, the truck passing within inches of him before it moved past him. The only thing he felt was the pain in his hand and the black rage that filled him.  
  
He howled in fury as the truck disappeared into the darkness, its red taillights staring back at him like a creature from hell. 


	21. Chapter 20

Something was up. Oz wasn't sure what it was, but it was something. He had been dating Willow for only a few weeks now, but he thought he had pinned down her moods pretty well in that time. Right now, Willow was uncomfortable and nervous. She'd been that way most of the night. So had Xander. Which brought only one possible thing to Oz's mind. Something's up.  
  
Looking at Willow sitting in the passenger seat next to him, Oz couldn't help but feel bad for her. He'd known about her feelings for Xander even before they had really started going out. He thought that, given time, she could have those kinds of feelings for him, and he still believed that. The only one that could ruin it was Xander, and by the way they were acting, he probably had. This afternoon, when I came to pick Willow up. Xander had been there and he had been acting weird. Even for Xander. Willow too seemed flustered. And that had been the scene all night at the Bronze. Both her and Xander had acted distracted throughout the entire night, barely looking at each other.  
  
"How'd you like the concert?" Willow asked softly, disturbing Oz's train of thought.  
  
"I liked it." Oz commented seriously, taking his eyes off the road briefly to smile at Willow. "I think everyone had a good time."  
  
Willow cast a glance toward the back of the van, where Xander had been sitting for the entire drive. "Yeah," she responded softly, and returned to gazing out the window.  
  
"I was thinking," Oz said before Willow could zone out again. "After we drop Xander off, we could go for a drive or something. Talk."  
  
In the light from the dashboard, Oz could see his girlfriend's eyes widen slightly. "Uh, I don't think so." She said awkwardly, looking down at her lap. "Actually, I was hoping you could drop me off first. I'm.not feeling to well all of a sudden."  
  
Oz was silent for a moment, his eyes on the road. "If that's what you want," he said in his usually calm voice.  
  
Ok, she obviously doesn't want to talk about what's bothering her right now, Oz thought as he came to Willow's street. "You want me to walk you in?" he asked. Usually he would just do it and not ask, but tonight was.different.  
  
Willow obviously thought so too. "No, it's okay," she softly, attempting a smile. "I'll be fine." Her smile faded as she looked back at Xander. "Night Xander."  
  
"N-night, Will." Xander's voice answered from the back of the van.  
  
Oz caught Willow's eyes for a moment and held them. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" Willow nodded and gave him a genuine smile before opening the door and hopping out. Oz watched as she moved quickly up her walkway and pause only long enough to get her keys out. She opened her front door, gave Oz a small wave, and then closed it behind her. Satisfied that nothing would try to eat Willow between now and the morning, Oz's started down the street again, heading to Xander's house.  
  
Silence ruled as the van made its way toward Xander's house. Oz looked in the rearview mirror a few times to see Xander watching him. The van didn't need the mirror since the windows in the back were blocked off. Devon liked having it up so he could check his hair on the way to gigs. Now, instead of reflecting the conceited lead singer of the Dingo's hair, it showed just how uncomfortable Xander was. I should say something to him, Oz decided as he pulled up to Xander's home. "So," the sometime werewolf said as Xander came to the front of the van. "Do you know what was up with Willow tonight?"  
  
Xander looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a Buick. "What?" the dark-haired boy stammered. "Why would I know? I don't know! Have no idea, really!"  
  
Oz watched as Xander maneuvered between the two front seats, trying to get to the passenger-side door. "I just thought that she might have said something to you. When you were at her house earlier."  
  
Xander's hand froze on the door handle. "No. Willow didn't say anything," he said softly. Without turning to look at Oz, he opened the door and jumped out of the van. "Thanks for the lift," he said before he closed the door and jogged up to his house. He went in without looking back, leaving Oz and the van behind.  
  
Turning the van back toward his own home, Oz couldn't help a small twinge of nervousness that popped into his head. Would Willow leave me if she thought that Xander was interested in her? Oz wondered as he drove thorough the darkness of Sunnydale. He was sure that the Willow he had first met would, but would the Willow he knew now? "Let her be my Willow," he asked the silence.  
  
The silence, as it is want to do, stayed silent.  
  
  
  
  
  
.___.___.  
  
  
  
  
  
"How do you think they're doing?"  
  
Giles voice caused Sidney to jump slightly in surprise, his ears grown accustom to the silence that had filled the library for the past two hours. "Well, I'm sure they're fine." The former Watcher told his friend, his hushed tones sounding impossibly loud to his ears. "I have every confidence in you're Slayer, and I know that Eddie can handle himself..."  
  
Giles noticed his friend's voice trail off. "What's the matter?" he asked slightly worried.  
  
"Oh, it's nothing," Sidney replied, trying to reassure his nervous companion. "Just an overactive imagination of an old man."  
  
Giles couldn't help but grin. "Well, that's always been a problem for you, even when you were young. Remember what you told Mr. Tinny during 3rd year finals?"  
  
Sidney thought for a moment then grinned himself. "Well it wasn't a complete lie."  
  
The Watcher snorted. "You're term paper was stolen by KGB agents, who had mistaken it for a Defense Ministry report?"  
  
Sidney did his best to look offended. "Well it was stolen!"  
  
"You left it on a bench in Trafalgar Square!" Giles said, losing a battle not to burst into laughter. "That is not stolen!"  
  
"Now that is a matter of opinion," Sidney said, raising his chin in defiance. "I went back and it was gone. In my opinion, that means it was stolen." Giles raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Alright, it did take me three days to remember where I had left it, but still."  
  
Both men stared at each other and laughed. "What I find quite disturbing is that Mr. Tinny gave you an extension based on that story," Giles said through his laughter.  
  
Sidney gave the Watcher a broad grin. "That was because I threatened to tell the Head Master that he and Mrs. Hurley spent their free periods shagging on his desk."  
  
The look on Giles face was a cross between shock and mirth. "They were?"  
  
"Oh yes," the Reanimator said in all seriousness. "I walked in on the two of them one evening, screwing each other rotten." A thoughtful look crossed Sidney's face as he remembered. "I remember thinking that Mrs. Hurley had a magnificent arse. It's really no wonder that the Head Master had her in his office everyday for tea."  
  
Feeling slightly unsteady, Giles took a seat and stared at his friend in wonder. "Mrs. Hurley was having an affair with both the Head Master and Mr. Tinny?" Not waiting for any confirmation, the Watcher removed his glasses and shook his head slowly. "I had quite the crush on Mrs. Hurley during my first semester at school."  
  
"You and every other young man in at school," Sidney replied with a smile. "Well, except for Jerrold and Richard.I think they liked Mr. Tinny better." Both men broke down in laughter again as they thought of their school day chums. As their laughter faded, they sat across from each other, smiling over the table.  
  
"Up until recently, I've avoided thinking about.well my past as a whole," Giles said after a moment of silence. "I thought it best, all things considered, to leave the past alone. I've come to the conclusion that the past refuses to be ignored, and the harder one tries to ignore it, the more forcefully the past will intrude on the present."  
  
Sidney watched the conflicting emotions play across his friend's face. Other's that didn't know Giles as well as he did, might not notice them, but Sidney did. "Rupert, I'm sorry if my coming here has caused you distress," the former Watcher candidate said softly. "I never meant to disrupt your life in any way. I know.some of what you must be feeling right now. Memories long hoped forgotten coming to the surface." Looking down at his hands, Sidney said almost to himself, "People you've.tried you're damnedest to forget as well."  
  
Giles heard him none the less. "Yes, there are people I've tried to forget, but you were never one of them, Sidney." Rising from his chair, the Watcher moved around the table and kneeled beside his friend. "I never tried to forget you," he said gently.  
  
Sidney looked startled and then smiled. "I was referring to myself, Rui." Looking down at his hands, the Reanimator almost blushed. "I did my best to forget you, Rupert." At his friend's shocked expression, Sidney smiled sadly. "I met two wonderful people at Oxford. The first was you. The second was Mary. And try as I might, I couldn't think of you, without eventually coming to Mary." The older man's eyes seemed to go out of focus, filling with equal parts grief and anger. "I do whatever I can to not think of Mary."  
  
Giles knelled there in stunned silence. I never thought about how difficult our reunion would be for him. "I'm.sorry, Sidney," the Watcher said after a long moment. "When I called you, I was worried that our meeting after all these years would.remind me of the demons and specters that I had hoped I had left behind me. I did not think that you would have your own.difficulties." Giles finally stopped, realizing he was beginning to ramble.  
  
Sidney laughed softly. "I'm glad to see some things haven't changed. Your mouth never could keep up with your mind, Rupert."  
  
The sadness hadn't totally left the smile on Sidney's face, but Giles was warmed by the genuine amusement he saw in the other man's eyes. "Yes, well then why did I get a higher grade in Public Speech, then you?"  
  
Now the smile Sidney gave Giles was one of true humor. "Rebecca Meier!" the Reanimator declared with a laugh. "She had the cutest habit of climbing through my bedroom window at night. When she did, practicing a speech on Byron's Legacy wasn't the foremost thing on my mind."  
  
The image of Rebecca Meier came to into Giles head without warning. Long legs, smooth skin, dark hair. "I've never hated another human being more, then how I hate you at this moment, Sid."  
  
Both men laughed out loud, once again filling the quite library with good cheer. "You could have had her you know," Sidney said, smirking at his friend's shocked expression. "She liked you from that time she saw you sleeping in your underwear on the sofa."  
  
"She did not see me sleeping in my underwear!" Giles shouted indignity.  
  
"When the air conditioner broke down during that heat wave, second year?" Sidney gave his friend an amused look. "She was leaving my room and saw you sleeping on the sofa, in your underwear, with the window open."  
  
Giles opened his mouth to deny that any such event had taken place, then closed it as he remembered. A deep blush crept its way up from beneath his collar. "I.How." stuttering a dozen questions and accusations, Giles finally stopped and caught his breath. "Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
Sidney gave him confused look, a slight grin on his lips. "What? That she saw you in your underwear or that she liked you because of it?"  
  
"Oh shut up!" Giles said, getting up off the ground and brushing off his legs. "Let's get back to work shall we?"  
  
Sidney smiled as Giles walked around the table and took back his seat across from him. Both men returned their eyes to their books, occasionally sharing a smile.  
  
  
  
.___.___.  
  
  
  
When Buffy saw Eddie fall out of the truck, she immediately ran towards him. She saw him clutching something in his hands, and screaming at the top of his lungs. At first Buffy had thought that he was shot, due to the gunfire she had heard in the speeding truck. When she saw the black handle of a knife attached to the top of Eddie's hand, she realized what had happened. "Eddie!" she cried as she finally reached him.  
  
Turning to look at her, Buffy was stopped cold by Eddie's face. His face was a bitter mask of rage. His lips were pulled back in a snarl, exposing his teeth. Flushed and breathing hard, his nostrils seemed to open and close slightly with each breath. What truly stopped Buffy in her tracks were Eddie's eyes. Instead of the green they she had seen before, the eyes that stared at Buffy were as black as tar. For a moment, the Slayer thought she saw a crackle of blue electricity cross through them.  
  
"Eddie?" she asked cautiously, keeping her distance from the Necromancer. "Eddie, it's Buffy."  
  
Turning to give one last look in the direction the truck had sped off in, the male Slayer swore viciously and screamed again. "I know who you are!" he snapped when he turned back to Buffy, his eyes now back to normal, but no less angry. "I was stabbed in the hand, not shot in the head."  
  
Taking a step toward him, Buffy regarded him carefully. "You okay?" The Slayer didn't see anything other then plain anger on her companion's face  
  
"Yeah, just peachy," Eddie answered with a look that was more annoyed then angry. "Except for this pesky knife through my hand, I'd call this my best night ever!" Moving under a streetlight, Eddie inspected his wounded hand.  
  
The woman in the truck had driven the knife completely through Eddie's hand, until the hilt of the handle pressed against the flesh. The blade had been long enough to not only go through the hand, but completely through the small metal box that it had held at the time. Even then, the tip of the knife protruded from the bottom of the box, a mixture of blood and some kind of blue substance dripping off it. In fact the hand, the box, and the handle of the knife were all covered in blood, making touching any of them rather unpleasant to Buffy. "Jesus!" Buffy breathed when she saw all this. "We should get help, take you to the hospital or something."  
  
"And tell them what?" Eddie asked as he flexed his fingers slightly. "Sorry nurse, I was fighting with some zombies in an ally, and the bitch who was controlling them stabbed me in the hand for trying to save some guy she had snatched?" Looking up from his hand at Buffy, some of the anger left his face. "Look, I'm sorry if I'm acting like a dick, but I got a knife stuck through my hand. We don't need any help. I just need you to grab hold of the box for a second while get the knife out."  
  
Buffy gave Eddie another look, now only seeing impatience and a twinge of pain in his eyes. Grabbing a hold of the box, she was careful not to cut herself on the tip of the knife that stuck out of the bottom. "Got it," Buffy informed the male Slayer as she tightened her fingers around the box.  
  
Taking a breath, Eddie took the handle of the knife in his left hand, spread the fingers of his right hand straight and pulled. Eddie remained silent as the knife came out on the first pull. Pulling his hand away from the box, he calmly inspected his hand, tightening the fingers into a fist and then relaxing them. "No nerve damage," he muttered as he looked at the actual wound on his hand. "Clean cut." Looking up at Buffy, the boy smiled painfully. "Hurts like a sonofabitch, though."  
  
"So you're going to be okay?" Buffy asked as she looked at his hand. Blood seeped from the wound on both the top and the palm of the hand. "Should probably get it cleaned up right way."  
  
Eddie didn't say anything as he tried to stop the blood from staining his shirt. "Bloody hell," he swore, giving up the fight and tearing the sleeve of the shirt. "You know, I'm going to bury that knife in that bitch's skull when I get a hold of her." His tone was almost conversational as he tied the cloth around his hand. "And it's not even because she stabbed me in the hand with her cheap-ass knife. Nope! It's because now my fucking head hurts from when SHE THREW ME OUT OF THE FUCKING TRUCK!"  
  
Buffy again took a step back from the Necromancer, surprised by the sudden burst of anger. "Right.about this?" she asked tiredly, waving the bloody metal box in front of Eddie. "What is it?"  
  
Eddie gave the box an irate look. "One way to find out is to open it and look," he answered, finished tying the fabric around his hand. When Buffy simply looked at the box skeptically, Eddie snorted and grabbed the box. Fiddling with the latch with his wounded hand, the lid finally opened and both Slayers peered at the contents with confused expressions. "She stabbed me over this?"  
  
Looking in the box, Buffy was surprised to only four asthma inhalers filled with some kind of blue liquid. The knife had broken through one of the inhalers, spilling the blue liquid over the black foam that held the inhalers. "What is this stuff?"  
  
Pressing a finger against the foam in the box, Eddie's finger came away covered in the liquid. He brought it to his nose and sniffed it. Again the confused look came to his face. Finally, he stuck the finger in his mouth and tasted the liquid.  
  
"What the hell do you think your doing?" Buffy shouted, slapping his hand away from his mouth. "For all you know that could be poison! Or some weird magic stuff that'll turn you into a gerbil!"  
  
"First off, OW!" Eddie shook his wounded hand. "Watch the Slayer- strength when slapping the hand! Jeez!" When Buffy looked embarrassed enough, he continued. "And it's some kind of drug. Part meth, part.something else." Giving the inhalers another look, he frowned. "Great. More drugs. There aren't enough things crawling around this burg that will kill you, let's go throw new and funky drugs into the mix!"  
  
Buffy looked at the vials of blue liquid again. Drugs? Jeez, now that 'Gang on PCP' story doesn't look so insane. "You think there's more?"  
  
"There's always more." Eddie closed his eyes and sighed. "Always. The zombies are probably working for a cartel that has their eyes on Sunnydale." Turning to walk back down the ally, Eddie seemed to grow tired in an instant. "Probably a middle ground for stuff coming in from Mexico and headed for distribution in LA and San Francisco."  
  
Buffy watched with concern as the male Slayer stopped walking and sat down beside a zombie, leaning back against the wall. "You sound like you've had to worry about this type of stuff before," she said as she walked after him, crouching down to look at him.  
  
"Oh yeah. Seems me and Sid can't help but run up against one drug cartel or another." Again he closed his eyes and sighed. "Colombian, Russian, Mexican, Brazilian, South African, Japanese, Chinese.we've banged heads with them more times then either of care to remember. One of the few reasons I was looking forward to coming to Sunnydale is because I thought I wouldn't bump into gangsters. Vamps, zombies, ghouls, werewolves, big jelly-looking things with eyes.yeah, those I expected. Not cartels."  
  
Buffy looked down at the seemingly innocent looking metal box in her hand. "You think it's going to be a problem?"  
  
Eddie nodded tiredly. "Yeah, it is. But we'll deal with it." Smiling slightly, the Necromancer raised an eyebrow at Buffy. "You surprised me a bit tonight. You did really well. I know fighting zombies is a lot different then fighting vamps, but you kicked some ass tonight. And when truck-lady turned everything to shit, you kept your head."  
  
"Well, I have done this sort of thing before," Buffy said, smiling despite the double-edged compliment. "And I gotta say, you surprised me too. More on the side of 'I can't believe he's hanging out of truck' sort of surprise, but still the good kind."  
  
"Yeah, well lets not break an arm slapping ourselves on the back," Eddie said with a quite laugh. "Don't want to give each other a big head, do we." Grinning, the Necromancer looked around again. "What happened to our not so friendly vamp? You dust him?"  
  
Looking around the ally, Buffy wasn't surprised to find Angel had disappeared. "He took of when things got rough. He does that sort of thing a lot." Glancing at the zombie at her feet, the Slayer sighed. "What should we do with the Backstreet Boys over here?"  
  
Eddie glanced around the ally as well, taking in the scattered remains of the zombies. Some lay still, while others still moved, searching for their prey or food, or in this case, both. "Here," the Necromancer said, tossing Buffy his car keys. "Go to the car. In the back, where I keep the weapons, are two big orange containers filled with gasoline. Grab'em and come back here."  
  
"What are you going to do?" Buffy replied, looking down at the keys in her hand.  
  
"I'm going to drag our friends here into a neat little pile. Easier to burn that way. I'm also going to look for my gun." Pulling himself up off the ground, Eddie looked toward the entrance of the laneway. "I think it might be around here somewhere, and I'd rather not have the cops, or worse, some kid find it."  
  
Buffy watched as Eddie grabbed a hold of the zombie in front of him and started to drag it down the ally. Shrugging, she turned and started toward to jog out of the ally and towards Eddie's car.  
  
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As soon as Eddie heard Buffy's footfalls fade, he dropped the zombie he had been dragging. Taking a good look at it's head and face, Eddie left it alone and went to the next closest. "Come on ya bastards," he muttered as he slapped away a hand that tried to grab him. "One of you has to be in good enough condition."  
  
The male Slayer found a zombie that suited his needs. It gurgled helplessly at him as Eddie kneeled down beside it. "Shhh."the Necromancer said soothingly, calming the zombie down until it stared up dumbly at him. "Shhh. It's okay. It'll be over quickly, I promise." Tracing the bloody fingers of his wounded hand over the zombie's face, Eddie whispered softly. "I'm.sorry. You just have something I need. Nothing personal." Eddie thought that the zombie's face, which was that of a boy not much older then him, looked afraid.  
  
Ignoring the look, Eddie calmed himself, letting his fingers roam over the cold, dry flesh of the face. When he was ready, the Necromancer drove two fingers into the zombie's eyes, pushing back until they slipped all the way into it's brain and hooking them in with a curl of his fingers.  
  
The zombie and Eddie both went rigid as Eddie began to drain the magic that had reanimated the corpse. Along with the magic, came the short- term memory of the zombie. The memories played a like a slide show in Eddie's mind. Snapshots of a cave and a man with a painted face. Snippets of what looked like some kind of warehouse or processing plant. The face of the woman from the truck. The face of the vampire. Parts of the fight. All of these flew by at the speed of thought, and Eddie did his best to catch a few, like the face of the woman, the warehouse and the man with the painted face.  
  
When he had drained the last of the magic from the zombie, Eddie relaxed with a exhaling of air he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Pulling his fingers out of the now completely dead zombie, the male Slayer rose of the ground. Wiping his fingers on his ruined shirt, he took another breath before resuming to drag the zombies into a pile.  
  
A minute or two after he was done, Buffy returned with the containers of gasoline. "Any problems?" he asked as he leaned against a wall and toyed with an unlit cigarette.  
  
"Nope," Buffy replied as she stopped in front of the pile of zombies. "Car's where you left it, turned off alarm without incident, key worked.no problems at all. You?"  
  
"Not a one. Let's get this over with." Taking one of the canisters, Eddie began to douse the zombies with gasoline. Buffy joined him after a moment and they had thoroughly soaked the corpses in a matter of minutes. Motioning for Buffy to stand back, Eddie stared at the zombies for a few seconds and then turned and started to walk away from them. Before Buffy could ask what was up, smoke started to rise from the bodies.  
  
Eddie couldn't help but smile as Buffy watched as flames engulfed the corpses, quickly burning with the added gasoline. "Wow," the Slayer said as she watched the flames rise and the zombies blacken. "That's some neat trick. You must be fun at parties."  
  
Putting the cigarette in his mouth, a single flame appeared in the palm of Eddie's hand. Leaning toward it, he lit the cigarette with a few drags. "It has its uses," he answered with a smile, blowing the flame out. "Come on. I'll give you a lift home."  
  
As Eddie again started down the ally, Buffy gave one last look to the zombies, or more specifically, what was left of them. The fire was dying down, leaving nothing more then a few small black lumps, a lot of black smoke, and a lot more ash.  
  
Then Buffy started after Eddie, reeking of dead things and smoke.  
  
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The drive to Buffy's house was uneventful and quiet. Nothing jumped out of the darkness at them, and no big-rig trucks tried to run them off the road. The conversation was nonexistent, as both Slayers road in silence. The only thing worth commenting on was that Eddie's wounded hand kept slipping off the gearshift and steering wheel. "You want to come in and clean that up?" Buffy asked as the Range Rover pulled up in front of her house. "I've got first-aid stuff coming out the rafters."  
  
Eddie looked over at the house for a moment, noticing the darkened windows. "It's okay," he said, looking down at his hand, wincing slightly in disgust at the dried blood and dirty rag. "I can talk care of it when I get to Mr. Giles place, got my own stuff there. Plus, I don't want to wake your folks."  
  
Buffy shrugged and waved away Eddie's concern. "My dad lives in LA and my mom's outta town for a couple days, so no one to wake up." Taking off her seat belt, Buffy opened the door and hopped out. "I'll get to use the front door for once, come on!"  
  
Eddie gave another look to his hand and then at the mess he was making of the car. He'd smeared blood over the dash, the steering wheel, and the gearshift. Sighing, he took his seat belt off and jumped out of the car as well. Locking and setting the alarm, the male Slayer jogged up the walkway to catch up to Buffy. "You sure this is okay?" he asked as she fumbled with her keys. "I mean, I don't want to put you out or anything. You probably want to just go to sleep."  
  
Grinning in triumph as she found the key to the front door and opened it, Buffy looked at Eddie. "It's fine, you're not putting me out, and I do want to go to sleep but I'd like to know you're going to have your hand in the morning." Walking into her house, Buffy motioned for Eddie to follow her. "So come in already!"  
  
Taking a cautious look inside the house, Eddie stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Following Buffy, he took in his surroundings in a glance. Sofa, coffee table, TV, wall unit.the basic suburban house. "I like your house," Eddie called into the kitchen where Buffy had gone. "Really.normal looking."  
  
"What'd you expect?" Buffy laughed from the kitchen. "You want something to drink? Water, soda, juice.and a weird green thing my mom made is what's on tap."  
  
"Water's fine." Making sure to keep his bloody hand away from anything, Eddie walked around the living room. "I don't know what I expected. Weapons, big, dusty books on demons.maybe a rocket launcher or two."  
  
Coming out of the kitchen with two glasses of water, the Slayer grinned. "Xander told you about that, eh?" When Eddie nodded, Buffy shrugged. "I keep what weapons I have in the house in my room, and Giles is book guy. I don't think my mother would understand why her daughter was so interested in demons and why she has so many crucifixes under her bed."  
  
Looking over his glass, the Necromancer raised an eyebrow. "Your mother doesn't know that you're the Slayer?"  
  
"No," Buffy said with a sigh. "Thinks I'm just a really, really rebellious daughter, with a habit of lighting schools on fire."  
  
"Harsh," Eddie murmured with a wince. Looking down at the glass in his hand, he winced again, but for different reasons. "And I think I'm totally ruining this glass."  
  
"Eww," Buffy said when she saw the bloody hand print Eddie had left on the glass. "I should probably show you where you can clean up. Follow me." With that Buffy and Eddie started up the stairs toward the bathroom.  
  
Walking up the stairs, Buffy couldn't help but feel Eddie watching her. I hope it's with his normal eyes, because if I turn around and see him staring at my butt with those black eyes, I'm going to freak. Looking over her shoulder, Buffy saw that Eddie was indeed staring at her butt, but was relieved to see it was with his normal green eyes. It took Eddie a second to realize he'd been caught, but when he did, Buffy swore that he blushed. Laughing softly to herself she ran the last few steps to the top. "Bathroom is right through there," she said when Eddie reached the top. "I'll go get the bandages and peroxide."  
  
Eddie nodded and walked into the bathroom, picking at the makeshift bandage he had on his hand. While getting the first aid supplies from out of her closet, Buffy heard a very loud, "Son of a BITCH!" from the bathroom, over the noise of running water.  
  
Grinning despite herself, Buffy grabbed the small white box of supplies and headed to the bathroom. "You okay in." For the second time that night, Eddie had managed to stop her dead in her tracks. Buffy stared at a now bare-chested male Slayer, as he did his best to wipe up the blood that was dripping on to the sink and tiled floor. Her eyes widened at Eddie's broad back, tracing the large burn scar she had noticed earlier as it wove a long and twisted path across his flesh. Bullet scars and what appeared to be a long slash of a knife scar peppered his back and chest like a morbid tic-tac-toe game. Yet the scars all looked very old, like something an old soldier would carry with them decades after the war was over. Buffy could tell that the definition of his chest, shoulders and back came from real work and training, and not from days in the gym.  
  
Buffy continued to stare at Eddie, until the boy saw her reflection in the mirror above the sink. "Hey," he said with a sheepish grin. "I kinda.well, I kinda bloodied up your bathroom. Didn't want to ruin any of your towels, and since this shirt is already a loss."  
  
Buffy, noticing that her mouth was open, closed it quickly. "Yeah.uh." looking down she noticed she was holding the first aid box. "Bandages!" she said, thrusting the supplies at him. "I'll.wait somewhere.else." With that, Buffy turned on her heal and escaped from the bathroom to the relative safety of the hallway. "Nice one Slayer," she muttered as she listened to Eddie bandaging his hand and cleaning up. "What is it about mysterious, half naked guys in your house that makes you turn into a moron?" A flash back of Eddie's bare chest popped into her mind. "Yeah, that's it."  
  
"Summers?" Eddie called from the bathroom, his voice sounding embarrassed. "You wouldn't happen to have a.um.shirt I could borrow, would ya?"  
  
"Breathe girl," the Slayer whispered to herself. "Uh, let me check." Running to her room, Buffy began to look through all of her drawers and her closet for something that didn't scream teenage girl. She finally found a rather asexual, very plain, but apparently small white t-shirt. "God, please let this fit him." Running back into the hallway, Buffy thrust the shirt into the bathroom without looking. "Is this okay?"  
  
Silence from the bathroom for a moment, then Buffy felt the shirt pulled out of her hand. A second later, Eddie's voice answered. "It'll do. Thanks." A moment after that, the water was turned off and Eddie came out into the hallway. "Uh, sorry about that, seems my hand wasn't quite finished bleeding yet. All cleaned up though."  
  
A quick look into the bathroom confirmed that Eddie had indeed cleaned up. "No problem." Buffy winced slightly at the tightness of the shirt that Eddie now wore, and a look at the bloody and tattered remains of his other one made the Slayer feel bad. "Sorry about your shirt, and about.your new shirt."  
  
Eddie shrugged and started toward the stairs. "Ah, it's nothing. It's just a shirt. And I appreciate you loaning me this one. Wasn't keen on driving around town with no shirt on."  
  
As Buffy followed Eddie down the stairs, she couldn't help but admire the male Slayer's butt. Hey, he stared at mine, she reasoned. It's only fair that I get to check out his. Equality! Buffy continued her example of feminist ethics until they reached the front door. "So, you going straight over to Giles' place?" she asked as Eddie turned to face her.  
  
Eddie shrugged. "I guess. I'm not really tired, and my head is feeling better. Might drive for a bit, get the lay of the land, ya know?" Opening the front door, the Necromancer smiled. "Thanks for letting me clean up. I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Buffy felt herself grinning like a fool. "Yep! Library, bright and early!"  
  
Eddie raised an amused eyebrow, smiled and then nodded. "Right then. Tomorrow." With that, the male Slayer turned and walked towards his car.  
  
Buffy watched him, in the absurdly small t-shirt he now wore, walk to his car, get in and drive off. Closing the door and leaning against it for a moment, the Slayer let out a long breath. "Oh yeah. Tonight went well."  
  
With a sigh, she climbed the stairs to the second floor again, and prepared for bed. 


	22. Chapter 21

Sidney Benson couldn't get a hold of Eddie, and he was worried. He had tried both Giles flat and the boy's cell phone, both to no avail. He could just be asleep, the former Watcher thought as he hung up the phone. Probably tired from going out with Buffy and her friends, and hunting. Even with that logical explanation ringing in his head, he couldn't shake the fear that something had happened to him. "Perhaps I should call Buffy's home, and ask how it went tonight," he murmured to himself.  
  
A quick look at a slumbering Giles convinced Sidney not to. He'd have to wake the Watcher to get Buffy's phone number, since he didn't like the idea of going through his friends' desk in search of it. Draining the last of his tea, Sidney sighed and quietly walked back to his place at the table.  
  
Sitting down, the Reanimator glanced at the book in front of him and sighed again. Sidney hadn't been surprised when their research hadn't turned up anything of value. Oh, Giles had learned a lot, which wasn't difficult since he had known very little about zombies in general, and voodoo in particular. Sidney on the other hand, knew everything there was to know about both topics, and had kept reading in the hope of finding out something new. "No such luck," the British man said in disgust, pushing the book away.  
  
Despite the tediousness of the research, Sidney had been greatly impressed by the amount of books and scrolls Giles had about vampires and, what Sidney liked to call, 'generic' demons. Sidney had always been fascinated by regional and ethnic magicks. And the demons, spirits and myths that went with them. He had studied voodoo, ancient and Neo- Druidism, Taoism, Buddhism, and many more beliefs, philosophies and magicks from across the world. One colleague had said flippantly "Sidney has forgotten more about ethnic magicks then the rest of the word knows." While technically not true, Sidney had devoted most of his life in the pursuit of his knowledge. He'd used it to survive his whole life, doing consulting work, teaching, writing.basically using it anyway he could to make a living.  
  
It had taken meeting Eddie to make Sidney realize that his knowledge could be used for more then writing papers on Stonehenge and speeches on Neo-Paganism. With Eddie, Sidney was both teacher and student. Teaching Eddie about his growing powers and how to use them for the better good, and learning that his knowledge had practical purposes and overcoming the fear of letting his own powers overtake him. With his young friend, Sidney had not only increased his knowledge on the occult, but had actually helped governments, police, and ordinary people.  
  
And made a lot of money doing it!  
  
In actuality, Sidney was slightly embarrassed at the amount of money he and Eddie had earned through their adventures. He had grown up in a lower middle-class home, and becoming a millionaire had thrown him into quite a spin when Eddie had informed him of their combined worth.  
  
Looking at the way they lived, one couldn't suspect at how much money the two of them had made with their unique talents. The house in Houston was comfortable, but it wasn't the lap of luxury either. The apartment in London was large enough for them to keep their things and stay comfortable when in the city. The car, while expensive, was a necessity. When looking at their budget, Sidney noticed that most of their outgoing capital went for weapons, books, and bribes. The average person couldn't even hazard a guess at how much it costs move an automobile full of highly illegal weapons, across Europe. Sidney knew, and the amount still raised his eyebrows, even after all these years.  
  
Glancing at his watch, the former Watcher was surprised to find it almost 5am. He briefly considered trying to reach Eddie again, but the time and a rather large yawn convinced him to wait until a more reasonable hour. "He's probably asleep anyway," Sidney said to himself again.  
  
As he let himself drift off to sleep, he knew he was trying to convince himself more then anything else.  
  
  
  
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"I don't care what time it is, I'm coming over!" Driving down the interstate, Eddie kept his eyes on the road as he talked into his cell phone. "Come on Richie! I'm doing you a favor! It would have been easier for me to just to drive up to LA and wake your ass up. Instead, I'm giving you some notice so you can take a shower, put some coffee on, and kick whatever skanky bitch you have in your bed out."  
  
Changing lanes, Eddie pushed the cigarette lighter in as he listened to his friend bitch at him. "It's 4 in the fucking morning, man!" Richard 'Richie' Wagnall whined into Eddie's ear. "I've been asleep of half a hour! Cut me a break!"  
  
Lighting his cigarette, the male Slayer took a drag and exhaled loudly into the phone. "Yeah, well that's more then I've had, so don't come looking to cry on my shoulder." Glancing at his watch and then at the speedometer, Eddie did some quick math in his head. "I should be at your place in about 2 hours. If you're not up, I'm going to first kick the door in, and then kick your ass in. Got it?"  
  
"What do you want from me?" Richie's voice sighed into the phone, all the fight gone. "I need to set any of my gear up?"  
  
Glancing at the glove compartment that held the reason for his spur of the moment trip to Los Angeles, the Necromancer thought for a moment before answering. "Yeah, get your lab up and running. I'm going to need you to break something down for me. And see if you can get a hold of the Frog. I'm going to need to get something over the pond to Jackie, and fast."  
  
The sounds of pen on paper told Eddie that Richie was writing down the instructions, not trusting his sleep deprived brain to remember it all. "This is going to cost you and Sid some serious grease," the chemist said quietly. "Maybe.a couple of quarters. And you know I don't speak for Jackie."  
  
Fifty thousand dollars, Eddie thought, decoding what Richie was saying. Fifty Gs for a chem breakdown and a Concord trip to Hong Kong. "No problem. Just make sure you get a hold of the Frog. I'm going to want him swimming before I leave."  
  
The prospect of making money took the last of the sleep out of Richie's voice. "Cool. I'll talk to him before heading downstairs." In a quieter tone, the chemist's voice became more cautious. "You're in a major rush. Something big?"  
  
"Big enough," Eddie replied, avoiding a direct answer over the phone. "I'll fill you in when I get to your place. See you in a few." Disconnecting, the male Slayer tossed the phone onto the passenger seat.  
  
Watching as the dark and flat landscape flew by him, Eddie thought about the night's events. He felt very dissatisfied with the way the evening had gone. His entire body felt like one big sore muscle. His hand, while already starting to heal, still bothered him, even after he had changed the bandaging twice. The battle with the zombies, and the fragmented memories he had pulled out of them, didn't give him much to go on. His only lead was the sliver box and the blue vials that it contained. For them to be of any help to him, Eddie first had to find out what exactly they were, and who made them. Hence the trip to LA.  
  
"Should have tried to get a hold of Sid again," he muttered to himself. He had tried to call the Library after he had stopped by Giles apartment for a change of clothes, but had gotten only a busy signal. "Probably trying to call me," Eddie smiled in the darkness of the car.  
  
While he and Buffy had been fighting the zombies, Sidney had left a message on his phone, asking him to bring a few of the books they had brought with them, to the library. Those books now sat in a duffel bag in the back seat of the Range Rover. Probably should have dropped them of first, Eddie thought guiltily. Damn, probably told him where I was going while I was at it. Sidney's protectiveness of him sometimes bugged Eddie. He was used to taking care of himself, and when it came down to it, others as well. Having someone worry about him still brought a weird feeling for him.  
  
Lighting another cigarette, Eddie watched as light drizzle started to fall, he couldn't help but smile at the scene. "Driving to LA with a car full of guns and drugs. Making a drop off to a courier and a chemist. Cash payments for everything. All I need is a high speed chase with the cops and I'm ready for primetime."  
  
Turing on the radio, the Necromancer searched the dial for something other then pop music and talk shows. Finally giving up, he switched to the CD player and waited as the Rolling Stones got ready to join him for the drive. When Paint it Black came on, Eddie laughed out loud.  
  
Rolling down the window, he smiled as he felt the cold drizzle spray against his face. Howling along with the music, Eddie floored the gas and watched the speedometer jump forward. "Maybe I'll get that police chase after all."  
  
Behind him, the first rays of dawn were racing him to Los Angeles.  
  
  
  
  
  
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Maria walked into the cavern, carrying the unconscious boy over he shoulder. The sun had been starting its slow ascent into the sky by the time she had coaxed the damaged truck into the entrance of their base of operations. Swearing with every step she took, Maria looked around for the voodoo master that was supposed to be running this show. "Cristo!" she shouted, her voice bouncing off the walls of the cave. "Cristo, where the hell are you?"  
  
Charles Dumas Cristo, dressed in a dark robe, stepped out of the shadows. He smiled at the mercenary, his painted face making the smile look down right ghoulish. "You bellowed, my dear?" Walking toward Maria, the magician seemed to almost hover. "I see you have brought me a present."  
  
Dropping the catatonic boy at the man's feet, Maria wiped her brow and glared at him. "He better be worth it! You have no idea the shit I had to go through to get this kid." Walking to her footlocker, the rigger kicked it open. "Not only did I run into a vampire, but the Slayer and some crazy kid with a gun who just wouldn't die!"  
  
Kneeling over the boy, Cristo inspected his condition. "I gather that a fight insued?" Peering into the young man's eyes, the voodoo master smiled slightly. "Considering your current disposition, I'd surmise that it didn't go well?"  
  
"Damn straight it didn't!" Taking off her vest, Maria threw it into the locker. "You stupid zombies got toasted, the truck it a wreck, and I lost my favorite knife in some guy's hand!" Lighting a cigarette, Maria looked at her right for arm and scowled. "And your damn gris-gris freaked out on me too! Almost squeezed the life out of my arm." Taking the bracelet of bones and teeth off, she tossed it into the locker as well.  
  
Looking up quickly, Cristo frowned at Maria. "What do you mean, 'freaked out'? What happened exactly?" Going to the locker, the painted man picked up the gris-gris and examined it.  
  
Taking a drag of her smoke, Maria leaned against a wall and stared at Cristo. "Freaked out! I was sitting in the truck, waiting for the zombies to finish off the vampire, when it starts wiggling and squeezing my arm." Exhaling a cloud of smoke, the mercenary tilted her head back and sighed. "Then everything went straight to hell! The Slayer and the guy show up, and start working with the vampire on the zombies! By the time I get there, all the zombies are down and the three of them are just standing there."  
  
Looking closely at the gris-gris, the magician frowned again. "Tell me about this boy." Listening to Maria's account of the stranger, Cristo closed his eyes, squeezing the gris-gris in his hand. He listened intently as Maria recounted the night's events.  
  
"So I stabbed him in the hand and he fell out of the cab," Maria finished, tossing her cigarette away. "The kid has more lives then a cat! I shot at him, ran him over, and then tossed him out of the truck with a knife in his hand! And he still had enough left to get back up!"  
  
"Interesting," the voodoo master murmured to himself. The boy has magic in him, he thought to himself. Enough to effect my gris-gris. "Next time you.run into this boy, I want you to bring me something of his."  
  
Raising an eyebrow, Maria pushed away from the wall. "Like what? A head shot and an autograph?"  
  
Laughing softly, Cristo returned the gris-gris to the footlocker. "Nothing so commercial." Turning his back on his companion, magician spoke over his shoulder as he walked to the still comatose boy. "Almost anything of his will do. A weapon, a piece of jewelry.even the shirt off his back. As long as it belongs to him."  
  
Maria looked like she was going to ask him why he wanted something of the boy's, but then shrugged. "I'll see what I can do." Putting her hands on her lower back, the mercenary stretched out, watching as Cristo picked up the boy gently and carried him toward the alter at the far end of the cavern. "What you want the kid for? Sacrifice?"  
  
Cristo ignored her. Laying the boy down on the altar, he proceeded to cut the boy's clothes off with a knife he had produced from inside of his robes. It was a large knife, and rather plain looking. More a dagger then anything else. The blade was slightly longer then his hand, the blade gleaming in the torchlight of the cavern. The handle was made of wood, the color having faded to a dull brown over what was probably a number of years.  
  
Once the boy was completely stripped of his clothing, the voodoo master laid the knife down on the alter, and started to paint the boy's face and chest with a foul smelling red paint. From her vantagepoint, Maria could hear Cristo speaking softly in a language she didn't know. Moving closer to the altar, she could also see a large wooden box at the man's feet. "What are you doing?" she asked, her nose scrunching up slightly from the smell of the paint.  
  
Cristo's response was more chanting, his voice getting louder as he painted a circle over the boy's heart. His fingers, surpassingly nimble, drew a small figure in the center of the circle. Still chanting, in what Maria decided was an odd mix of Spanish, Latin.and something she couldn't identify, the magician opened the wooden box at his feet, removing a large bottle. The watching mercenary couldn't hold back the gasp that escaped her as she looked at the bottle.  
  
Long, skeletal hands were attached to the bottle, as if the owner of the hands hadn't wanted to let go of the bottle, even in death. The fingers ran vertically up the sides of the glass, while the edges of the palm bent downward underneath the bottle. The hands were thin and seemingly bleached white. The skin seemed parched and in places, had flaked away to reveal greenish bone. The bottle itself wasn't with out comment either. About the size of a wine bottle, it was crystal clear and without flaw. An old wooden cork topped it, sealing its contents in. Yet for all this, it was what was inside the bottle that had caused Maria's gasp. Inside, a liquid seemed to glow white with almost desperate intensity. It sloshed around slightly as Cristo moved the bottle out of the box, causing the white glow to aggravate. The light from the bottle made the torchlight of the cave seem like nothing more then a lit match in a dark room, its glow was so bright.  
  
Placing the bottle on the altar, Cristo increased the tempo of his chanting. Picking up the knife again, he slowly raised it above his head, gripping it with two hands. Maria could only watch in morbid fascination as he brought the blade straight down, sending it deep into the boy's heart. The boy, motionless throughout the entire ritual, now jumped as if he were being electrocuted. His body arched upwards, his eyes seeming to search wildly for something. Both Cristo and Maria watched without expression as the boy slowly calmed, his body relaxing and his eyes becoming unfocused once more.  
  
After a moment, Cristo slowly pulled the knife out of the boy's chest, drawing the blade out as if it were the sword in the stone. The blade came out clean, no blood staining the metal. What was surprising was that no blood came from the wound either. In fact, it appeared to Maria that the boy was still breathing, albeit shallowly. "What the Hell?"  
  
Silencing the woman with a look, Cristo picked up the bottle gingerly, gently pulling out the cork with a quiet pop. The hands that were a part of the bottle seemed to tighten, their grip becoming stronger as if holding on to it. Tipping it over, the voodoo master placed the mouth of the bottle directly over the wound in the boy's chest. None of the glowing white liquid came out, seeming frozen now that the cork had been removed.  
  
Maria watched in awe as the fingers on the bottle started caress the sides of the container, as if they were attempting to coax something inside. The glow of the bottle grew with each stroke of the fingers, becoming almost blinding in its strength. Wincing at the glare, the rigger looked to Cristo's face for some clue as to what was going on. What she saw there made her wish she hadn't looked at him at all.  
  
Charles Cristo looked like death itself. The combination of the face paint and the shadows that the glowing light caused to dance across it, gave the voodoo master's face a terrifying sharpness. His smile was one of approval and cruelty. One could imagine that same smile on the face of Adolf Hitler as he read the latest numbers of deaths at Aushwitz.  
  
That smile quite simply scared Maria, and she was so unaccustomed to being scared of anything that she actually took a step back from the alter. She took another step back when what appeared to be the same liquid in the bottle, slowly climbed out of the stab wound on the boy's chest and ascend into the air and into the bottle. There wasn't a lot of it. Perhaps a couple of ounces, but it what it lacked for in quantity, it more then made up for in quality. The light this liquid gave off as it slid into the bottle was enough to make both Cristo and Maria turn their eyes away for a moment.  
  
When it was clear that no more the liquid was going to come from the boy, the fingers on the bottle stopped their movement and went back to their original position. The boy was now no longer breathing, shallowly or otherwise. "Woah," Maria said softly as she watched Cristo replace the cork in the bottle and return it to its box. "What the fuck was that?"  
  
"That was, an ongoing project of mine." The voodoo master said with a stern look at Maria. "When it is complete, we will have nothing left to fear in this, or any other city in the world. Not Slayers, vampires, or boys who will not die.nothing." Leaning downward, Cristo whispered something into the, now dead, boy's ear. After a minute, the new zombie sat upward slowly and looked at its master. "Go, find the others and stay with them," Cristo told the zombie gently, like a father to his son.  
  
Maria watched as the zombie pulled itself off the altar and walked toward the smaller cave where the other zombies were kept. When Cristo brushed past her, moving in the direction of his quarters, the rigger snapped out of her state of shock. "Yeah, well until you get your mojo working or whatever, we still have a drug depot to prepare and a Slayer her friends to deal with," she said harshly, more because she was embarrassed to be struck practically speechless then for any other reason. "The clock is ticking, Charles."  
  
"I am aware of this," the robed figure said as he departed toward the shadows, the large wooden box held it his hands. "All will be completed according to my schedule." As Cristo moved away, he turned his head over his shoulder and smiled. "We have the advantage my dear. We have me."  
  
Maria simply glared at Cristo's back. Then she looked back at the altar and then at the cave that held the zombies. Grinding her teeth, the mercenary went to inspect the truck and find out how long it was going to take to fix it. "We have the advantage," she said in a nasally voice as she walked to the truck. "We have me! What an asshole." 


	23. Chapter 22

Walking through the empty halls of Sunnydale High School, Willow couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. It was almost 9:30 in the morning, and the only thing she could hear were the slap of her wet sneakers against the tiled floor of the hallway.  
  
Protected from the elements by a bright yellow rain coat, Willow had fled the deceptive safety of her home, to slog through the rain and wind to school. "There's research I could help with," she said to herself, her voice sounding quiet small in the empty school.  
  
The hacker knew she was trying to convince herself that she was really needed her, but the truth was, she had just wanted to get out of the house earlier then usual. She wondered idly who would have been the first to knock on her door. Buffy, maybe.Willow thought logically. The Slayer would probably want to tell her about her night zombie hunting. Plus, she still want's to grill me about Xander.  
  
That was a conversation she did so not want to have. That whole thing with Xander.mistake. It had to be. He wasn't going to kiss me. I'm Willow! His best friend! Practically invisible to him as anything else! These rather hopeful thoughts were pushed aside by other, more complicated ones. What if it wasn't a mistake? Maybe he really did want to kiss me. He said that he'd finally opened his eyes.maybe what he sees doesn't have to be only a friend.  
  
As she tried to shake the last of the water off her raincoat, Willow thought about how all of this made her feel. On the one hand, the idea that Xander was actually interested in her, after all these years made her feel warm and lightheaded. It was almost too good to be true, the object of her every romantic though for over 10 years finally coming around. On the other hand, there was the very real possibility that this whole thing was a mistake. Xander had 'opened his eyes' to so many girls before, that him doing it to his best friend was really only a matter of time. Willow had listened to her friend gush over so many different girls, that she found it hard to believe that Xander could ever make up his mind about what he wanted. The most recent recipient of Xander's gushing was Buffy, Willow's other best friend. "Oh, and lets not forget Cordelia!"  
  
The mere thought of Cordelia Chase caused a frosty look to cross Willows' usually pleasant face. When the Hacker had discovered that Cordelia and Xander had been secretly seeing each other, Willow would be the first to admit that she had exploded. She had been secretly pleased when Cordelia had dumped Xander on Valentines Day. The flippant way Cordelia had done it had supported every evil and nasty thought Willow had ever had about her. It also made Xander single again, which caused a dance of joy in the privacy of her room that night.  
  
In the aftermath of Xander's botched love spell, Willow felt bad about it. The spell, in all its shortsightedness and danger had shown that her best friend really did have feelings for the Ice Queen. And more then anything else, Willow wanted Xander to be happy. She had always envisioned it being her who made him happy, but she couldn't hold on to any real anger for long when Xander made his choice. Disgust? That's still around, but anger.not so much.  
  
That had a lot to do with Oz. Willow had never thought that any boy, other then Xander, could make her feel as good about herself, as Oz did. For the first time in her life, a boy picked her. A cool, popular guy. A guy in a band! She had never felt anything like the excitement of watching Oz perform on stage. It's like he's playing just for me, she thought with a smile as she walked. In a club full of girls who he could have, he's playing for me! It made her feel special, maybe even loved.  
  
Willow knew she wasn't in love with Oz the way she was in love with Xander. Not yet, anyway. But with every smile, every soft look, Oz was slowly taking the place in her heart, which only Xander had ever filled. Just thinking of Oz made her feel happy. It used to be that way whenever she thought of Xander, but now he was with Cordelia. Did that.taint him? Because he chose Cordelia over me, did that change the way I look at him? Think of him?  
  
It saddened Willow to think that. That after a lifetime of friendship and love, the choice of who Xander picked to be with could so profoundly change their relationship. In the privacy of her room, in the middle of the night, Willow sometimes thought that she wouldn't be happy with whomever Xander was with, if it wasn't her. If Xander was going out with Buffy, would I think nasty thoughts about her? Would things still not be right between Xander and me?  
  
Willow believed that no one knew Xander the way she did. And up to a point, it was the truth. With so much shared history, and so many long years of friendship, Willow Rosenburg could honestly believe that she was the authority on Xander Harris, except for maybe Xander himself. So believing that she knew him better then anyone else on earth, Willow logically assumed that no one else on earth was better suited for him then her. It makes sense, she thought as she pushed the library doors open. Who else could love him as much as me? Who else could except him so completely, with all of his faults, as me? These rather confused thoughts were running through her head as she walked into the library and saw Giles and Sidney sitting at the main table.  
  
Or more accurately, passed out at the main table.  
  
Approaching quietly, Willow couldn't help but smile. Giles was sitting with his feet out, his head tilted back. His glasses rested on the table on top of dusty looking book. His mouth hung open slightly, and his nose whistled softly as he breathed. Across from him, Sidney sat in almost exact same position, except that his head hung down, causing his chin to rest on his chest. Sidney's arms crossed his chest, his hands tucked underneath arms.  
  
"I guess you guys didn't go home," Willow said softly as she reached the table. She just stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. Should I wake them? They look so.sleepy. Taking a glance at the dozens of books laid upon the table, the hacker's eyes scanned the pages and titles. Picking up a large, leather-bound book, Willow's eyes widened at the graphic sketch of a zombie apparently eating a baby calf. "Eek!" Dropping the book back on the table, Willow backed away from the book like it had bitten her.  
  
The loud slam of the book hitting the table caused both Giles and Sidney to awaken. Or it may have been jumping out of their chairs and hitting the floor that woke then up, Willow wasn't sure. Either way, both men jumped to their feet immediately, their eyes wide. "I'm awake!" both men said loudly at the same time.  
  
"Uh, hi." Blushing scarlet, Willow smiled at the adults, her hands behind her back. "I'm here!" When both men stared at her incomprehensibly, the red-haired girl shrugged helplessly, the smile still on her face. "To help with the research."  
  
Giving the girl a bleary look, Sidney groaned and stretched his back. "Bloody hell," he muttered to no one. "What time is it?"  
  
"9:30," Willow mumbled, staring at her shoes in embarrassment. "I know you said to come by around 11, but."  
  
Giles waved away Willow's apology as he rubbed his eyes. "It's alright Willow. We both must have fallen asleep last night. It's fortunate that you chose to come earlier or we might have slept far to late."  
  
"And possibly done permeate damage to our backs in the process," Sidney grumbled as he leaned on the table, on hand on his lower back. "Bloody hell, I've slept in jungles, deserts, mountains and even once spent the night stuffed in a drain pipe. All of that, and my back has never hurt this much in the morning."  
  
Putting on his glasses, Giles straightened his shirt and tie and looked at his friend. "Drain pipe?"  
  
"Mexico City." The Reanimator shuddered for a moment at the memory. "It was most unpleasant."  
  
"I'd imagine so." Giles replied with slightly disgusted look. Suddenly remembering Willow, the Watcher turned to her and smiled tiredly. "I believe you mentioned helping us research."  
  
"Yep!" Willow answered enthusiastically, her mood brightening. "I thought I could surf the net. Look up zombie stuff." Her enthusiasm faded slightly as she remembered the less the stunning success she had had so far. "I know I haven't found much yet, but if you guys could give me something specific, I'm sure I'd do better."  
  
It was Giles turn to look crestfallen. "I'm afraid our own attempts at research haven't been very successful either."  
  
Clearing his throat, Sidney brought the attentions of his companions to himself. "I believe I can help you there Willow. My own knowledge on zombies, while extensive, could be of value here." Sending his friend a smile, Sidney motioned Willow to the computer. "Like so many of the Watchers I've met, apparently Rui doesn't like learning except from books."  
  
Willow giggled at Giles new nickname. "How many names did you have when you were younger, Giles?"  
  
"I'm going to go put on a pot of tea," Giles said stiffly, bristling from his friend's mild rebuke. "And I told you not to call me that."  
  
Both Sidney and Willow smiled as they watched the librarian go into his office. "He's always been a little sensitive about that," Sidney told Willow conspiratorially as he moved toward the computer. "Shall we?"  
  
Willow smiled at the older man as she moved past him and sat down at the computer. "So, you guys didn't find anything useful last night?" she asked as the computer booted itself up.  
  
Pulling a chair from the table, Sidney sat down beside the hacker with only a mild groan. "I'm afraid not. Rupert has an extensive library, really quite remarkable. Yet the vast majority of his collection concerns vampires and traditional demons. I'm sure that they have been of great help in the past, and will assuredly do so again in the future. Yet at present, they are of little help to the current dilemma. Zombies are not vampires. There are no demons inside of the bodies. Quite the opposite in fact."  
  
Accessing the Internet, Willow listened with rapt attention to the Reanimator. "What do you mean, the opposite of a demon?"  
  
Leaning forward, Sidney looked at the girl beside him, the glint in his eye bordering on intense. "When a zombie is raised, be it by ritual, spell or pure natural ability, the soul of the former inhabitant of the body is called to animate it." The look of horror on Willow's face brought forth a nod from Sidney. "Yes, a soul. What makes it all the more horrible is that the soul, trapped in the decaying flesh, has no free will, no independent thought. It feels no pain and has no conscience. The soul is.is like a battery powering a robot. Completely subservient to its master."  
  
Willow remained speechless as she stared numbly at the computer screen, thoughts of decayed flesh and rotted blood speeding through her mind. "That's...awful," was all she managed when she finally could speak.  
  
"Indeed," Sidney said gravely, before noticing the girl's rather shaken state. "Don't worry yourself gray, Willow. We are actually helping set the soul free when we kill a zombie, and if they could, I'm sure they would thank us." Putting a fatherly hand on the hackers' shoulder, the former Watcher smiled gently.  
  
Sidney's touch seemed to absorb tenseness in her shoulders that Willow hadn't noticed until it was gone. Letting out a slightly nervous breath, Willow returned Sidney's smile. "Thanks." Looking back at the screen, Willow tapped her fingers lightly on the keyboard. "So what should I do first?"  
  
Under Sidney's direction, Willow steered the computer to a number of websites with an overflowing amount of information on things occult. Many of them needed passwords, which Sidney supplied. None of them were familiar to Willow. "I thought I knew most of the reliable supernatural sites on the web," she commented once, here eyes widening in surprise and joy as she scrolled though a page of text devoted to a winged demon called Nightkin. "I've never even thought that there was so much I hadn't found!" Turning to look at the older man, Willow found him glaring at his cell phone. "Something wrong?"  
  
"Eddie," was the one word reply. Placing the small phone back into his pocket, Sidney sighed. "That bloody boy never calls when he's supposed to. And he was to bring me some books from Rupert's flat."  
  
"He's probably really tired," Willow said, trying to reassure the man. "With the dancing at the Bronze and then the zombie slaying, he probably went right to bed."  
  
Sidney started at Willow's words, his face registering surprise. "Eddie.danced?"  
  
Looking back at the monitor, Willow nodded. "Yeah, with a girl he met there. Melissa I think her name was." Giving the man a sidewise look, the hacker frowned slightly. "You sound so surprised."  
  
Biting his lip slightly, Sidney gave a half smile. "Eddie isn't exactly the most.social person around. He's actually quite.unsocial. Which isn't to say he's rude exactly...more.churlish." Realizing that he was beginning to ramble, Sidney stopped and took a breath. "I'm sorry, I'm making it sound as if Eddie is some brooding young man, hiding away from society."  
  
Willow opened her mouth to say something, then paused. "It's okay. We used to know a guy like that," she responded quietly, a hint of sadness and a touch of fear in her voice.  
  
Sidney looked thoughtfully at Willow, noticing how quiet she had become. Perhaps a friend that was lost, he thought as he watched the girl launch another search on the computer. I should ask Rupert about it, so I don't cause any unnecessary discomfort. In the meantime."Willow, do a search on ritual voodun, that should point us in the right direction."  
  
Working in silence, the only sound in the library was the soft clicking of the keyboard, and the mild whistle of Giles' tea kettle.  
  
.___.___.  
  
Eddie crept up on the zombie, his gun pointing directly at its head. Hands covered in sweat, and with thirst crawling up his throat like an untamed beast, the male Slayer steadied his breathing as he took aim. Pushing the door open gently, an audible creek reached the Necromancer's ears. With a sudden turn, the zombie spotted him and lunged. Squeezing the trigger rapidly, fire erupted from the muzzle of 9mm. In an instant the zombie's head blast apart in an explosion of blood and gore. "Excellent!" Eddie shouted, throwing the playstation controller down and grabbing his Big Gulp. "I so rock at this game!"  
  
"Ya think?" a voice shouted from the basement. "It's only your damn JOB!" Stomping up the stairs, Richard 'Richie'Wagnall finished wiping his hands on a rag and glared at his guest. "I on the other hand get my ass constantly kicked by that game. Fucking Sony," he muttered as he went to his fridge. "Make a game where you have to breakdown complex chemicals and drugs, and I'll beat your ass any day of the week!"  
  
Richard Wagnall was an MIT dropout and purveyor of 'fine, one of a kind pharmaceuticals'. Which meant he made custom made drugs in his basement and sold them to whoever could afford them. His drugs were the rage in both the mainstream Hollywood parties, and the raver underground. Growing up in Brooklyn, Richie first started experimenting with drugs in the basement of his fathers' pharmacy, mixing morphine and caffeine pills together, and selling them to the neighborhood joyboys and party girls. Accepted into MIT at 17, Richie helped develop a new, non-addictive morphine based painkiller and was on his way to a promising career with a major pharmaceutical company. Then, at the age of 22, he was arrested and charged for selling controlled substances, and statutory rape, after being caught with his face buried between the legs of a 16 year old Catholic school girl in the women's bathroom of a club. Cutting a deal with the State, Richie tossed them a few of the more prominent names on his sales list in exchange for a reduced sentence. Four years later, Richie Wagnall walked out of jail and left his native New York for the sunny skies of the San Fernando Valley. Now pushing 30, Richie was the established 'maker' for the top players in LA, designing one of a kind drugs for parties. Keeping with his roots though, he also made drugs for the younger crowd, selling them in bulk at a reduced price.  
  
"That's because you're a nerd. And not even one of those cool nerds that spend all their time playing video games. You're a chem nerd!" Laughing as he finished his drink, Eddie turned off the Playstation and lit a cigarette. "When's the Frog getting here? As much fun as you are, I can't spend all damn day here."  
  
"Bitch, bitch, bitch," Richie responded, his head inside the fridge. "You want a beer?"  
  
"Nah," Eddie answered, exhaling a large cloud of smoke. "I'm driving."  
  
"Pfft," Richie replied, grabbing himself a beer and closing the fridge. "Like anyone could tell you're not drunk when you drive." Throwing himself down on the couch beside Eddie, the chemist opened his beer and took a long drink. "Frog should be here soon," he said, stopping to let out a loud belch. "He's driving in from San Fran, so don't bitch to me about driving."  
  
"We both know that the Frog doesn't sleep, paranoid son of a bitch that he is." Putting his cigarette on an overflowing ashtray, Eddie brought both hands to his face in mock terror. "Oh no! The Feds are after me! The Russians are after me! The Colombians are after me!" Putting his hands back down, the male Slayer shook his head in amusement. "The only ones who want Frog are Interpol, and he knows it."  
  
Richie nodded, took another drink and grinned. "Which reminds me, you seen his new wanted poster?"  
  
"No," Eddie said with a smile. "I must have missed it on my last flight."  
  
With a groan, the chemist pulled himself off the couch and shambled over to a bookcase near the front door. Muttering to himself, he searched in-between the books on chemistry, biology and physics, until he grunted in triumph. Crumpling the paper, he tossed it to his still sitting guest. "Take a look."  
  
As Richie made his way back to the couch and his beer, Eddie looked at the crumpled wanted poster and laughed out loud. "That's the Frog?" he asked, referring to the picture of a man in dark sunglasses, a loud Hawaiian shirt, and about 6 weeks worth of hair growth on his face. "Jesus! He looks like an Amish in Hawaii!"  
  
Richie, who had been in the process of swallowing a mouthful of beer, exploded in laughter, spraying himself and the dingy coffee table in front of him in beer. "Shit man! You made me snarf my beer!"  
  
Laughing at his friend, Eddie stubbed out his smoke and leaned back on the couch. "So, what do you have for me?" his voice and manner becoming serious. "What am I dealing with?"  
  
The chemist stopped laughing immediately, knowing Eddie's tone meant business. Reaching behind his leather apron, Richie pulled out two sheets of computer paper. "Well, I did every test I know on the stuff," he said, handing one of the printouts to the male Slayer. "My conclusion: you dealing with serious shit."  
  
"I'm paying you a quarter to tell me that?" Eddie muttered as he scanned the page. It was mostly a lot of chemical equations that baffled his rather rudimentary knowledge of chemistry. "Getting stabbed, shot at and run over already told me that."  
  
Richie smirked at the younger man. "Alright smartass. I found strong doses of  
  
d-N-methylamphetamine, eta-carbo0line, tryptamine alkaloids, lysergide and traces of diacetylmorphine. Not to mention a handful of other things I've never seen before. This stuff should be able to kill a large bull, but somehow, the chemical bonds are also acting as inhibitors so that, while a person taking this will be severely fucked up, it won't kill them. Probably."  
  
"Jesus." Scanning down the page again, Eddie caught the chemical names his friend mentioned. Translated, the mixture was a meth/ayahuasca/LSD/heroin concoction. "This stuff must be a wild ride."  
  
"I'm thinking more like freakish. The meth would crank ya up something fierce, then the aya and LSD would mess with your perceptions, and the heroin would bring ya back down like a baby.and then drop you off a cliff." Taking one of Eddie's cigarettes, Richie lit it with a hand shaking from equal measure fear and excitement. "I'm telling you right now, this is high grade, professional stuff. No kid mixed this stuff up in his basement."  
  
Folding his copy of the chemical breakdown, Eddie put it in his coat pocket. "Cartels?"  
  
Richie nodded, taking a drag of his smoke. "Or the Russians, though I'd lean more toward the Colombians."  
  
Lighting another cigarette, Eddie gave his friend a curious look. "Why them and not the Russians? Or Mexicans for that matter?"  
  
"The ayauasca. It's made from a mixture of banisteriopsis caapi vines and leaves off the viridis bush. Both of which are found in South American rainforests." Rubbing his eyes, the chemist sighed. "The Mexicans could get them pretty easy, and the Russians, Chinese and even the Italians could buy them without much trouble. The Colombians would have the easiest time of all, so I'd go with them. It's just a guess though. For all I know, the Germans or English could have made it."  
  
"If anyone will know who's making this stuff, it's Jackie," Eddie said more to himself then to his friend. "Anything this big is going to end up going East.  
  
"What's going to end up going East?" a voice asked from the front door.  
  
Both Necromancer and chemist jumped at the voice, Eddie drawing his gun and Richie almost falling off the couch. "Jesus, Frog," Eddie said as he recognized the source of the voice. "Give us a fucking heart attack, why don't ya?"  
  
Fully entering the living room, Frog stared at the two men on the couch through dark sunglasses. Eddie had been introduced to Frog by Richie 2 years ago, and he and Sidney had availed themselves of his services on a few occasions. Only known as 'the Frog', the courier was the most non- descript person one was ever likely to meet, which greatly aided him in his profession. Plain brown hair cut conservatively, 5'9, lean and with no visible scars, law enforcement agencies around the world wanted him in an interrogation room for a few hours. Given his name for his globe-hopping job, Frog made his living delivering things that people didn't trust UPS for. This included, but was not limited to, drugs, weapons, stolen industrial, military and diplomatic 'documents', stolen art and other such items that customs would have a problem with. He was at the top of his field, and his prices showed that. Depending on the delivery and the risk involved, the Frog's rates ranged from a comparatively small $45,000 to over a million dollars. Always in cash. Always up front. If the delivery doesn't get where it's supposed to, Frog gives back 75% of his fee, the other 25% is guaranteed to him, no matter what. As far as Eddie knew, Frog had never failed on a delivery.  
  
The courier waited for a moment, his face expressionless. "I repeat, what'll end up going East?"  
  
"You," Eddie said standing up. "I need you to deliver a package to Jackie."  
  
Frog sighed and took off his glasses. "Hong Kong. Yay. I haven't been there this week yet!" Throwing himself onto the couch, the courier gave Eddie a bored look. "Do you realize how much I hate going to Hong Kong? It's actually the place I hate the most in the entire world." Lowering his voice, the plain looking man looked at Eddie in all seriousness. "Plus.I think the Chinese are out to get me."  
  
Eddie kept a straight face as Richie tied to hold in his laughter. "Frog, come on! I need to get this stuff to Jackie! Who else can do it, but you?"  
  
Frog seemed to give the matter serious thought, his eyes closing as he mulled over the possible trip. Eddie watched with interest, hoping his gambit of stroking the paranoid couriers' incredibly large ego would pay off. He wasn't surprised by Frog's 'hesitancy' to go to Hong Kong. It was classic Frog. The man, knowing he was the best and that his services were needed, enjoyed making his prospective employers flatter and beg. Eddie didn't mind, as long as Frog shut up and did as he was told. "Fine," the courier said at last. "My price is 60 and it's non-negotiable."  
  
Eddie nodded and lit a fresh cigarette. "Yeah, well you're getting 50. I need you airborne ASAP." Taking the first printout, the male Slayer folded it and put it inside his pocket. "It's important that you get this stuff to Jackie right away." Scribbling a quick note on a piece of paper, Eddie took it, the second chemical breakdown printout and a single inhaler of the blue drug, and dropped them all into a manila envelope. "In there's Richie's breakdown of the stuff, a sample of it, and how she's to get in touch with me." Frog accepted the envelope and stood, looking expectantly at Eddie. "What?" the necromancer said.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Frog sighed and sat back down. "Eddie, how many runs have I done for you and Sid? 4? 5? You should know how I work by now."  
  
It was Eddie's turn to roll his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Reaching into his coat, Eddie removed a fat, plain white envelope. "That's half a cent in there for you, and another quarter as Jackies' retainer."  
  
Frog accepted the new envelope as easily as he had the first, inserting it into the inside pocket of his coat. "No need to count it. You and Sid are pretty much straight shooters." Rising from the couch, the courier put his sunglasses back on and grinned. "Or as least straighter then the rest of my employers." Putting the manila envelope under his arm, Frog walked past the two other men and opened the front door. Checking his watch, he looked at Eddie from behind dark lenses. "The package will be in the receiver's hands by 4 o'clock this afternoon." With that, he nodded at Richie and left, closing the door behind him.  
  
"Frog's weird," Eddie stated as he looked at the door that the courier had exited through. "Very weird."  
  
Richie simply nodded and finished his beer. "You gonna head out?"  
  
The male Slayer appraised his friend with a critical look. "You want to go back to bed, don't you?"  
  
Richie bowed his head. "Yes," he said meekly.  
  
Shaking his head, Eddie stubbed out his last cigarette and rose. "Then I'll leave you to you slovenly existence." Shrugging his coat on properly, he withdrew another white envelope. "Thanks for the help, Richie," he said with a smile, tossing the chemists payment on the couch. "Drinks on me next time I'm in town."  
  
Richie rose from his seat, stuffed the envelope into a pocket and smiled. "Alright. Say 'hey' to Sid for me." The two shook hands at the door, and Richie watched as Eddie started his car and drove off with a final wave. With a yawn, the chemist closed the front door, locked it, and then shambled off to bed.  
  
  
  
.___.___.  
  
  
  
Spike smiled to himself as he rolled his wheelchair out of his bedroom. He had been listening to Angelus raging since he had arrived at the mansion wounded, and that always left the blond vampire with a smile. "Evening, luv," he said cheerily to Drusilla.  
  
The female vampire didn't even look at him, but continued to stare at Angelus' room. "Daddy's angry," she observed with no small measure of excitement. "The Slayer and her friends will have to apologize. We'll make them, won't we Spike?" she asked, turning to look at her companion with a pleading and thrilled expression.  
  
"Of course, Princess," Spike said graciously, turning his chair around and rolling forward. "Now come sit over here, and tell me what you think we should do."  
  
Drusilla smiled and danced her way across the room, finally coming to rest on Spike's lap. "Miss Edith says we should give them no tea or biscuits," the vampire queen whispered gleefully. "Then, when they know they've been bad, we think we should cut off their fingers, so they cannot do any more mischief for Daddy!"  
  
Before Spike could respond to Dru, Angel threw open his bedroom door and stalked out, looking so much like an angry lion. "Evening, Angel," Spike said with a grin, his eyes glancing at the still bloodied shirt the other vampire wore. "Smelt you come in last night. Slayer give you another stern talking to?"  
  
Angelus glared black death at the wheelchair-bound vampire. "It wasn't Buffy," he growled.  
  
Spike's mocking laugh echoed though the mansion as he lay his hand on Dru's thigh. "Don't tell me it was the Watcher! Still angry about the gypsy, is he?"  
  
"It wasn't Giles." Tearing off what was left of his shirt, Angel fingered the wound in his shoulder. "It was the damn zombies."  
  
Cocking his head to the side, Spike took a closer look at Angelus' shoulder. "Zombies using guns nowadays? This country really is a mess, ain't it?" The blond vampire frowned as Dru pulled herself off his lap and approached her sire.  
  
"The smelly zombies didn't hurt, Daddy did they?" she asked as she reached Angelus. "No, it was the dark lady." Dru caressed the wound, running her fingers along its edge, bringing her face close and kissing it gently. "The dark lady gave my Angel a new scar."  
  
Angel smiled smugly at Spike as the female vampire attended to his shoulder. "You know Spike, I could have used you last night. Your wheelchair might have slowed the zombies down, some.OW!" Pushing Drusilla way, the vampire looked down at where she had bitten him.  
  
"Weren't you the one who said to leave the zombies alone for awhile? Till we were stronger?" Smirking, Spike rolled over to where Dru had fallen. "Come here, pet. Lets leave Angel alone until he feels better."  
  
Dru rose shakily from the floor, holding her head in a way that had nothing to do from the fall she had taken. "Ooh. The stars are whispering again." she said softly, a small smile coming to her lips. "A shadow is coming.full of death and love." She looked at her sire with a gleeful expression on her face. "They say the shadow will fill all of us and make us part of it."  
  
Angelus, his shoulder forgotten, crossed the length of the room in a few strides and took hold of the female vampire. "Dru," he asked with keen interest. "What else do the stars tell you?"  
  
Closing her eyes, Drusilla circled Angel with a smile on her face. "All sorts of wicked things, but they're being naughty again. They sing and dance around my head, whispering and laughing." Opening her eyes, the vampire stopped smiling. "The shadow will burn the sky black with fire and choke the world with rage."  
  
"Sounds like my kind of shadow," Spike put in from his wheelchair where he was picking at his fingernails. "This town could use a little more fire and rage. Too much bitching and moaning if ya ask me."  
  
Ignoring the crippled vampire, Angel frowned down at Dru. "What this about making us part of it?"  
  
"The shadow will fill us with fire and we will become like black smoke upon the wind," the female vampire said, her smile returning as she reached up to caress her sires' face. "My Angel will be the blackest smoke."  
  
Letting go of Drusilla, Angelus turned away from her and began to pace. "It's not the woman..." he muttered. "She's just a flunky."  
  
"What woman?" Spike asked, his attention grabbed by Angelus' apparent worry. "What the hell are you muttering about?"  
  
"The woman who shot me, you moron!" the elder vampire snarled.  
  
"You mean it wasn't the zombies who shot you?" Spike said mildly. When Angel started to growl and advance on him, Spike frowned at him. "So a woman shot you. Big deal! What's it got to do with the price of blood?"  
  
Instead of responding to Spikes' taunts, Angelus turned his back on both vampires. "Must be the bokor I found in the cemetery that night." Since he had lost his soul, Angel had been the biggest shark in the waters of Sunnydale. It was natural disgust for zombies that had spurred his recent order to increase their numbers. If Dru's vision is true, then I've got another reason. "Jacob!" the vampire yelled, calling in one of his minions. "What's our number at?"  
  
"17 up," the younger vampire said nervously. "8 more should be up tonight."  
  
"Good," Angelus said with a deep growl. "Tonight we go on the warpath. Anything without a demon in it is fair game. Zombie, human.hell if you guys want to kill some puppies go for it. As long as it's public and messy!"  
  
"Well something's got your knickers in a knot." Pushing himself toward his sire, Spike grinned. "Getting shot put you in a bad mood?"  
  
Angel grabbed Spikes' wheelchair and pushed it hard against the wall. "Listen and listen good, sit and spin. This is my town! Everything and everyone belongs to me! Some bokor and his little chica think they can come into my town and start raising hell?" Leaning over, Angel grinned viciously into Spike's face. "No way. Tonight we make sure this shadow guy and his zombies know this town doesn't take to kindly to strangers."  
  
Spike, surprised at the elder vampires' outburst, none the less felt the need to taunt. "And if the Slayer and her friends decided to crash your party?"  
  
"If Buffy and her friends get in our way?" Angelus' smile turned thoughtful and then genuinely sad. "If Buffy tries to stop us, then I'll take care of her." His eyes grew hard as he let Spike go and straightened up. "Anyone gets in my way tonight and the birds will be eating their eyes by morning!"  
  
Spike watched Angel storm into his room and slam the door behind him. Jacob took that moment to retreat to another room, leaving only Drusilla in the room with him. Physically at least.  
  
For in her mind, Drusilla still talking with the stars, and dreaming of the shadows. 


End file.
